Use sharp, clean scissors or snips and snip as you need. Pruning is an act that always encourages the revival of dormant buds further back on the stem....or on the root, if you're root pruning.

Harvest your herbs from different locations on the plant to keep it attractive and shrubby all over.

Is that what you're asking?

Yes, thank you. My herbs are so long and full now they need trimming, but I don't know whether to snip from the bottom or the top or the sides to keep them growing well.

What herbs are you growing? That will influence where you cut. With most herbs if you are harvesting for use they will be getting pruned as much as they need.

I usually pinch out terminal buds to use to encourage bushier growth.

That is good advice for the the sub shrubs like sage or thyme. But I'd still like to know what herbs these are. Pinching and pruning is of little use on parsley, fennel, dill or chives, for example, which need different treatment.

floral_uk, am growing chives, parsley, rosemary, thyme; chives and parsley in particular are growing like mad. Thanks for any help.

Chives stems can be cut to the ground when harvesting. If you cut higher you end up with damaged stems which die off anyway. They will regrow from the base. Parsley can be harvested by picking the whole leaves, including the leaf stalk right down to its base. Harvest from the outside of the plant inwards since new growth comes from the centre. However, if the parsley is beginning to bolt harvest the central stem and you can make the plant carry on a bit longer. Rosemary can be pinched or pruned at any leaf joint. Thyme too. If the thyme is really getting too big you can clip it over with the hedge shears to return it to a cushion shape. You can dry rosemary and thyme clippings for winter use. The flavour is stronger in the dried leaves.

The best way to keep herbs within bounds is to eat them! Use them frequently and in quantity and pruning per se will become almost unnecessary.

With rosemary and thyme I would keep your pruning to no more than 1/3 of the living plant material/leaves at any time. If you do that much, let it bounce back before pruning more.

Thanks to one and all. Your help is much appreciated.

One thing we don't know pwm1 is where you are gardening. For me Rosemary is a fair sized hardy outdoor shrub so I didn't think of putting in any advice on how much to trim at any one time. I just break off whole branches since the thing has to be kept from blocking the pathway. However, fata sensibly mentioned restrictions which would be relevant if yours is a little potted specimen that has to come indoors in the winter.

Growing in pots on deck that gets morning sun.

What I meant was your geographical location, not the exact position at your home. We need that information to give climate appropriate advice.