Hi, Karen. I prune potted plants & mixed plantings to bend them to my will. I actually wear a pair of heavy duty bonsai scissors and a small pair of shears originally intended as a tool for defoliating bonsai trees but that I've adapted for use as the ultimate deadheading tool around my neck.

{{gwi:14891}} Great for deadheading!

As your vinca stretch out, you can shear them back all at once, or take the time to do it selectively so you still have some blooming all the time. I'm always pruning Coleus, snapdragon, petunias, and dozens of other plants in containers to keep them tidy.

I think that a very high % of people are frightened of pruning because they don't understand how the plant will react, and fear killing it. Most plants, especially when they are young, can take a frightful amount of indignity heaped upon them by a pair of pruning blades. I would urge you to go ahead and prune, but pay attention to how the plant reacts, not because I'm urging caution, but because I want you to become familiar with how dependable plant's reaction to pruning is.

If you want, I can start a thread about pruning, and we can all explore together?

Al