In the previous chapter we mentioned that often when cuttings are made for use in increasing stock, the plants from which the cuttings are taken are also benefited. In this chapter we are going to discuss how you can keep your plants both handsome and healthy by pinching, pruning and cutting back.
Left to their own devices, especially in situations where the light and sun are not so plentiful as they might be, most plants will tend to grow tall and leggy with little or no foliage at the bottom and with all their leaves and flowers growing together at the top. Since our object is to make our plants full and even from the base to the top — bush-like rather than tree-like — we have to try to prevent this. Although obviously we are talking here of upright growing plants, the same is true for trailers and vines. The part of the stem closest to the base will be bare while all the foliage and flowers will be concentrated at the extremities.
One of the most difficult things for the beginner to bring himself to do is pinch out the center of a healthy young plant. It is almost equally hard to convince him that the branch of his begonia plant which is just about ready to flower should be cut off, new buds and all. But these measures must be taken if the plant is to grow to look like anything at all. The basic idea behind pruning stems and branches, and pinching off growing shoots is that if you halt the plant's growth at one point the energy saved will catise it to grow in another. Thus we can within reason control the point and the direction of growth on all our plants. This is not to say that some plants which are properly cared for, given enough sun and light, and turned regularly won't grow properly without help, but this is the exception rather than the rule.