Clarifying What "Pruning from the bottom" means

Q. The recent article about Tecoma stans, yellow bells, advised the correct pruning for height control is from the bottom, not the top of the plant. Please clarify the difference between top and bottom pruning.

A. Pruning at the bottom of the plant for height control means making the pruning cuts at the bottom of the plant, removing the tallest stems a few inches above the soil. Pruning at the top of the plant means making the pruning cuts near the top of the plant near some desirable height.

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            Results from doing these two different methods of pruning results in a very different plant years later. Making cuts continuously near the top results in larger and larger stems with fewer and fewer leaves near the top. Pruning at the bottom keeps the plant eternally young.

            Pruning at the top of the plant is like giving the plant a butch haircut and requires no knowledge of how plants grow. Cutting at the bottom of the plant removes the largest and oldest stems, removing about ¼ of the entire plant in a few single cuts.

            Cutting at the bottom renews the plant with new growth from the base. Cutting at the top causes no renewal from the base but instead results in all the new growth growing from just below the cuts at the top.