I've been cutting back Joe Pyes to tidy them up for over ten years. It makes a huge improvement. The plant is shorter, more compact, not likely to flop, and produces more blooms -- but a bit later. When they get to be about 18" tall, I shear tham back by half, and about a month after that, I cut them back again, but by about a third. I stop cutting them back around July 4th. The timing might be different in your area, but you know how to figure it out.

Rabbits did the job for me early in the season. In fact, they kept chewing my Little Joe to the ground over and over. I was afraid it wouldn't make it. For some reason, they stopped and it did recover. It just started to bloom about a week ago and is only around 2 feet tall, but I can't say it branched out like normal pinching does. It's definitely very full however - more from the base of the plant.

Kevin