Pinching: taking the tip, leaving the rest

Pinching is the smallest, most frequent piece of shaping work most trees ask for: between finger and thumb, not scissors, take the soft, still-pale new growth at a shoot's tip and leave the older, hardened growth behind it alone. Done evenly across the whole canopy rather than only on the strong spots, it keeps the tree's energy from concentrating in one place and holds the silhouette tight through the growing season. New buds usually show within days, so it is work that repeats through the season rather than one sitting.