A little pinch will yield a plus in plant production.(Home & Garden)(Midwest gardening)

Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), May, 2007

Byline: Jan Riggenbach When new gardeners hear about "pinching" plants, they're understandably puzzled. Just where do you pinch them? And why? The "where" is the growing tip. You can literally pinch off the tip between your thumb and forefinger, or - if you have a lot of plants - you can speed up the job by using scissors or grass shears to remove many growing tips with one cut.

The "why" is that cut stems "branch out," resulting in a more compact plant with many more blossoms. Chrysanthemums are one of the classic plants that gardeners pinch, often several times during the spring and early summer. Mums that aren't pinched back tend to topple in autumn under the weight of their blossoms. (Some of the new varieties, which have been bred for compact...