Leggy Dianthus

[InspectorHastings]

Hi - I have a leggy Dianthus, picture hopefully attached. It was overshadowed by a bush, did what it needed to survive. But now the bush has gone and it looks a tad silly. How to fix? I've tried looking into it but am unsure if it's a good idea to cut right into the woods bits after it's finished flowering. I saw an idea that I could put compost over the leggy bits, and the fresh bits would grow roots and be new plants. Should I do this now while it's growing / how long would roots take. Or is that a daft idea. Many thanks!

Placemarking for tips. I am rubbish at dianthus.

I have some that look like that.
I would try and take cuttings which is the usual advice but whenever I have tried they die!

So I have bought new dianthus plants and stuffed them in inbetween and around and behind the woody stems to hide them so all you can really see is fresh blue green stems.

They need cutting back after flowering to stop woodiness but I’m not very good at remembering

Cheating and popping new plants in between the legs sounds tempting!

Supposed to cut back to prevent legginess... but if it's already leggy, can I cut back right into the woody bits? I read somewhere I shouldn't but am struggling to understand it all!

You can take/make cuttings from the green tops - just chop them off, peel off the lower leaves, and put them in some gritty compost somewhere and leave them to it (do water occasionally). Dig up the leggy plants, cut them right back to the base and pot them up and leave them somewhere near the cuttings. In the meantime buy some more different ones to go in your empty spaces this year. next year you will have lots of lovely dianthus to plant and give away.