General Quetion about pruning and cutting back

Deadheading my petunias is easy, but when it comes to the cornflowers and coneflowers and such, I'm at a lost. Do I cut just the flower off or should I go further down the stem? Should I go to the bottom of the stem? It's hard to know with different plants. Are there rules for busy plants and another set for thinner plants. I guess I'm just looking for a a way to keep in all straight. And pinching? I read that some plants (cosmos) that if you keep them pinched back will get fuller and flower better. Boy, it sure was easier to grow flowers before I started wanting to know what I was doing.

This message was edited Nov 18, 2011 6:07 PM

With coneflowers I leave the whole flower and stem all winter so the birds can eat. BUT, you CAN cut them off now if you want. Same thing with Black eyed Susans.

Thank you. Coneflowers will be the majority new year so it's good to know how to keep them up. Does letting the blooms stay affect how many and how long the plant will flower?

Nope! They will do fine!

Great. They are still blooming and looking great. I've been just pinching off the flowers when they are browned. But it has left these long stems. I guess I can take the stems down further and let the flowers go to seed.

you can pinch the plants, like cosmos and most other annuals, to get the bushier plant that grows more side shoots with flowers. it takes just a bit longer to put out blooms, but the idea is that youll get more blooms from one plant, instead of one plant with one stem with one flower on top. you can let the plant put out a flower or so before you pinch, or as soon as they have several sets of mature leaves. you can pinch anytime throughout your growing season. :)

Thank you. This is so much help and is also helping to figure out how to space the new seeds next year. I'm trying to plant more perinials and evergreens next year so this is very helpful.

I again Moneymomr, so glad your doing your garden and learning fast by the sounds of it,
just remember there is a big difference between Annuals and perennials, for the later I like to grow the seeds in trays and thin the seedlings out as soon as they are big enough to handle, then I plant them out in the borders in groups of odd numbers like 3, 5, or 7, this seems to help fill a larger gap than line them up in rows spaced too far apart. also remember that the perennials will be in the same place for several years so don't over crowd them at planting time.
Hope this helps a little. good luck. Weenel.

Thank you. I'm taking notes on everything. and keeping flower care in two different note books. One for annuals and one for periniaosl