Question
I have never trimmed my mums....this past year I moved them thinking they weren't getting enough sun. They are just starting to bud and they look awful! My mother-in-law told me I needed to pinch...I didn't want to sound stupid but I have no idea what she was saying. I know it't too late to pinch them off now but, would you please help me? They are full of buds but they look so lanky!

Answer
Pam, pinching is just another term for pruning or deadheading. Pruning is cutting the plant back by a certain percentage, while deadheading is simply removing the spent flowers before they go to seed.

If you want them to still bloom this summer, pruning them now would be of no benefit since you would be removing the buds. However, it would improve the growth habit by making them more compact and stocky.

The reason your mother-in-law advised you to pinch is that pruning a plant causes it to send out side shoots, which in turn promotes a stockier growth habit. Plants that are not pruned regularly will get lanky. With mums, they should be pruned back a few inches once they finish blooming in early spring. They are then pruned again in late fall.

After they finish blooming this fall, you should prune the plants by at least 1/3. If you live in a part of the country that gets a hard frost, you may need to even trim them further. Here in the midwest, we prune them down to 6" tall and then mulch around them with shredded leaves to protect them over the winter.

I hope this answered your question. Please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike