If you like fall Mums this tip is for you! This is a pass on tip, it's been recommended to me to trim your mums down to 4 inches on or close to the 4th of July. This keeps your mums nicely shaped by the time they bloom in the fall and encourages more flower heads also. A lot of people know about this tip.
But the tip that is not as well known is that what you trim off can be planted and will root by fall, if kept watered. It also has the added benefit of supplying you with the same color mums you purchased for that area or where ever you want to plant the cuttings. I like to plant some of my flower beds with certain color combination and have tried to find plants the same color in following years and have failed at times. This way I know what I'm getting and have found an inexpensive way to increase the color in my flower beds.
I've also learned that you can do this with your Autumn Joy Sedum plants, you may not want to go to 4 inches on those, but by topping them before their fall bloom you encourage more flower heads from them also and they are not as inclined to break due to being top heavy.
By llpensinger from Ocean City, MD
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Do you mean you do not root the mums that are cut off before you plant them? You would have to water them a lot, I would think in order to get them to root.
so i plant the cut stems in dirt and keep watered and they will develop roots on their own?
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