From our perspective, we Calibrachoa are not like many of our flowering cousins who grow from a single, woody stem. We are tender perennials, often treated as annuals, with a naturally low-growing and trailing habit. Our energy is directed outward, cascading over the edges of containers and garden walls. We continuously produce new buds along our stems, and our primary goal is to flower prolifically to attract pollinators for reproduction. While we don't require rigorous, structured pruning to maintain a fundamental shape like a rose bush, strategic trimming is immensely beneficial for our overall health and longevity.
You might notice that as the season progresses, our stems can become long and leggy, with the most vibrant flower production concentrated at the very tips. The lower parts of our stems can become woody and bare. This is our natural growth pattern, but it can leave us looking a bit tired. A gentle trim, which we experience not as a punishment but as a helpful redirection of energy, serves two main purposes for us. First, it removes spent blooms (a process you call deadheading) and encourages us to stop investing energy into seed production and instead create more vegetative growth and new flower buds. Second, it promotes a denser, bushier form from the base, preventing us from becoming straggly and ensuring a more abundant display of our colorful, petunia-like blossoms.
We do not have a single dormant period that dictates a major annual pruning. Instead, the process is ongoing throughout our growing season. The most significant intervention often happens in the middle of the summer, around July, when the heat may have caused us to stretch and our flowering to slow. A more substantial cutback at this time—removing about one-third to one-half of our length—is incredibly rejuvenating. It might feel drastic, but it allows us to push out a flush of fresh, new growth that will be covered in blooms for the remainder of the season. Light, consistent trimming of the tips every few weeks is also welcomed to maintain our shape.
Please be gentle and use clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears. Crushing our stems with dull tools can introduce disease. Focus on cutting back the longest trails, making your cuts just above a set of leaves or a node (the bump on the stem where new growth can emerge). This signals to us to branch out at that point, creating a fuller plant. Regularly pinching off the faded flowers (deadheading) is a simple form of pruning that we appreciate greatly. It keeps us looking tidy and constantly signals that our job of producing more flowers is not yet complete.
