Pruning Strengthens: A Botanist's View on Pain

Any experienced gardener has heard of a botanical term called Apical (ah-pick-ul) dominance. In most plants that grow from a central stem, from maple trees to bush peas, whatever branch is at the top of the plant receives the most development. Indeed, this apical branch produces a hormone called auxin that stunts the growth of every other branch except the apical branch. As long as the main shoot exists, it will inhibit the others in order to help itself grow larger. 

However, if a gardener were to come along and cut the apical branch, auxin ceases to be produced, and all of the other…