You may have bought Mums last fall and planted them in the ground, knowing they were perennials. Did you know that Chrysanthemums usually bloom in the summer unless a couple steps are taken for them to bloom in the fall? Mums are so nice in the fall! With those cooler months still quite awhile away, why are we talking about Mums right now? Because this is the time to trim them back, if you have any planted in the ground, for them to bloom smack dab in Autumn and not in a couple of weeks.

As you can see, my Chrysanthemum, before trimming, is about to bloom in a couple of weeks (you can see some small buds).

Many people use July 4th as an easy reminder date to trim back their Mums. Really, the last part of June up to July 4th is a great time, but doing it much more into July risks your mum from not being able to re-produce blooms by Autumn’s arrival.

Pinch or take scissors and trim back your mums until they are about 4-6″ high from the ground.

Do not trim them to be lower than that as it could damage the plant or the plant not grow enough again to produce a bloom this fall.

On mine, I ended up giving it a 2-3″ haircut. Your Mums may be larger or smaller than mine, so your haircut may be more or less (again, just leave the Mum’s final size to be about 4-6″ off the ground).

And voilà! A nice Chrysanthemum, ready to grow again and be ready for center stage presence come this Autumn!