SIMPLE!!!!! But cannot find on any expert's gardening site. Merely asking: what is difference between PRUNING a plant and DEADHEADING the plant. How/when would be appreciated. Thanks. Cheers! John
Dead-heading refers to removing a faded bloom. Some plants, like daisies and coneflowers will produce more blooms on the same stem and gardeners remove the stem between the faded bloom and the emerging one. I include that in dead-heading. Trimming removes soft tips off shrubs, mostly. This is done a couple times a year for hedges and boxwoods to restrain growth and shape. Pinching flowers to make the plants shorter and more bushy is a form of trimming. Pruning is removing hardwood branches when it is applied to shrubs and trees. Some perennials, like asters and bee balm, are prone to mildew so I remove a few stems to the ground to increase air circulation. This is pruning also. Pruning affects the entire plant; it is a stimulus to grow. Trimming and dead-heading only affect the tip/stem that has been cut; they encourage some leafy growth right at the cut (shrubs) and more bloom formation (herbaceous perennials and annuals). (Herbaceous plants are those that die back to the ground in winter.) If you are cutting at the edge of a plant you are dead-heading or trimming. If you are into the guts of the plant, you are pruning.
https://www.finegardening.com/article/pruning-tips-and-techniques
What would happen if all the ground cover was cut low in the fall? We have many trees and it's hard to rake in the ground cover
If you don't know the name of your groundcovers, please post pictures. We'll try to provide an ID. Some are tough as nails and withstand abuse; others will not respond well to being hacked up. Few, if any, plants will respond well to this treatment every fall. Can you set a mower on "high" and mow over the leaves? The chopping action of the blade will allow the leaves to break down quickly and "compost in place" with less damage to the groundcover. Some people use leaf blowers on a dry day. There are special rakes with blunt, plastic tips that catch less on groundcovers but which can scoop the leaves out. (They are also used for raking under and between shrubs.)
Do I cut back the stalk the flower grew on
This depends on the type of plant. Most plants usually benefit from having the dead stalks removed, but some plants, such as orchids, have a second chance to flower from that stalk. If you could give me the names of the plants in question or send photos, I will be able to help you better.
Wife's plant growing wild. How do you prune? Long shoots turned brown with greenery at the tips
Pruning is very plant specific. I wouldn't be able to give you good pruning information without knowing quite a bit of information about the plant and its environment , or at least the name of the plant in question.
Otherwise, what I can do for now is include an article for general plant pruning: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/fgen/pruning-garden-plants.htm
What to do when plant gets to tall and leaning to one side.
It really depends on the plant. All plants have somewhat different pruning requirements based on the species. This article will give you a good overview of general pruning: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/shgen/rejuvenation-pruning-tips.htm
Growing from stem so hard to trim
Are you referring to the coleus bloomstocks? You can just pinch those off; they don't need to be cut. In fact when they first start coming up you can pinch them off before they get so tall. You can pinch the foliage back to and it will get bushier.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/foliage/coleus/coleus-plant-care.htm
It's grown too large and I've already reported it once
Here are pruning tips:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/shgen/rejuvenation-pruning-tips.htm