Of course, hindsight being what it is, I should have taken a photo of this pilea in desperate need of a grooming before I started snipping away. But I am never good about thinking about that.
As the photo shows, I took off just about as much as I left.
But why do I say that summer is the best time to do this sort of haircut on plants? Several reasons.
First, the plants are at their most active growth time. So it’s easy to see where you might want to prune or pinch (this pilea branches nicely if cut back to a set of double leaves).
Next, should you want to propagate any of those cuttings, they root most easily now. It’s much harder once the plants slow down their growing in fall and winter.
Finally, if you accidentally cut where you didn’t mean to (and yes it happens. I stupidly do it far more than I should) the plant has lots of time to recover from that.
So take a look at your house plants to see if any need a little pinching or pruning. They will thank you–and you might even get to propagate some new plants in the process.
Gardendaze 