No More Pinching Mums

One of my mums that didn’t get quite pinched this year. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

No More Pinching Mums

The Fourth of July US Independence Day celebration marks another garden milestone: no more pinching chrysanthemums.

Unpinched, chrysanthemums will grow tall and leggy. They will also bloom several months earlier than fall, when most people want the color in their garden.

Pinching, or removing the top 2-3 inch plant growth in spring keeps the chrysanthemum plants shorter and bushy. Once in bloom, the plants will be covered in flowers and sit closer to the ground.

Although some of the chrysanthemums in my garden were regularly pinched this year, others were not so it will be interesting to see how soon they start blooming. I also plan to stake the ones that may fall over from being too leggy.

Chrysanthemums are an excellent cut flower and natural bug repellent so I plant them in front of garden beds for easy access and bug patrol. I did find ladybugs on one earlier today so maybe the beneficial insects were just passing through.

If you want to add chrysanthemums, do it in spring so the plants have most of the growing season to establish themselves. They also work well to naturally repel bugs.

Charlotte

Pinching Chrysanthemums

This is what happens when I forget to pinch my mums earlier in the season, early flowering!

Pinching Chrysanthemums

July 4th is a mile marker for my chrysanthemums. It is the last time in the season that I pinch my mums back to make them bushy and delay fall blooming.

This year, I started pinching my mums back regularly every month or so. When temperatures in June became too hot to spend much time outside, I didn't pinch them so that several mum plants were actually blooming USA Independence Day weekend, several months ahead of the desired bloom time around Halloween.

Mums flower early when the plants are not regularly pinched back through July 4th weekend.

I tucked pinched-off mum branches into nearby soil to root new plants.

I usually prefer to plant low maintenance flowers but I don't mind having to pinch mums every few weeks. They are well worth the effort to add flowers when fall comes around.

Charlotte