Hack them back

 "I just can't seem to get my petunias to bush out.  They're just leggy and spindly," I said to a dinner companion a few years ago.  "You have to hack them back," said Al Kelly.  What did he mean?  He meant that the minute you plant them, you have to cut them to practically nothing.

With only a few blossoms showing, I really didn't want to, but I hacked as instructed.  After potting them, I grabbed the scissors and went to work.  Two weeks later, each stem I had butchered had produced three or four others.  Like the four I planted a couple of weeks ago; they're now busting out.  I mean, look at all those new plants and buds:

A swim buddy was complaining about her leggy petunias and I gave her the same instructions.  "Cut the few blooms off?" said Gayle.  "I can't."  You have to, I told her, otherwise they'll just be tall and ugly.

I have been a Petunia Queen for twenty years, ever since Al told me what to do.  If you despair about puny petunias, grab your scissors.  You will be amazed.  Oh, and use 'Quick Start' by 'Miracle Grow'.  That's key.  After the first hacking, you have to cycle through and keep cutting one back here and there.  You too can be a Petunia Queen!