Pruning Artichokes?

Question

What is the best way to prune a perennial artichoke?

Answer 1

I had to read all of these links to find one about pruning..........I didn't know this myself

http://www.farm-garden.com/growing-vegetables/artichokes
http://www.ehow.com/how_9881_grow-artichokes.html
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http://www.tastefulgarden.com/growingartichokes.htm
Caring for your plants:

Most people assume that the artichoke needs to be grown as a perennial and that it will not bear fruit until the second season.

Water well to encourage production in cooler climates. In warm areas too early flowering is not acceptable, cut back by trimming flower stalks and big leaves. In addition, reduce the water and feeding until highs are by mid-day in the 70’s. When warm cover the soil with mulch. When weather is cool, remove much of the mulch.

Where winters are not severe, and after the first killing frost, cut off the big leaves leaving the steams, which can be tied together. Earth should be mounded around each plant. Where the weather is colder cover the trimmed plant with a box and cover the box with a heavy blanket of earth and mulch. For very cold climates, add a layer of a covering such a fireplace ashes.

Answer 2

In areas where artichokes are grown as a perennial plant, they are pruned back several times a year to stimulate new shoots for year-round cropping. They can be cut back from mid-April to mid-June for cropping in the fall, winter, or spring. If they are cut back in late August or September, they will produce a summer harvest. Annual crops are not cut back at any time except after harvest.