When and How to Deadhead Mums to Keep the Flowers Coming

Find out when and how to deadhead mums so they continue blooming as long as possible.

Knowing when and how to deadhead mums can help prolong blooming and keep your plants looking their best all season long. Removing faded flowers (called deadheading) interrupts the plant’s goal of making seeds. If the plant succeeds in setting seeds, it tapers off on blooming, and you’ll be back at the store buying new mums. Use these tips to keep snipping the faded flowers off before they set seeds, and your mums will flower until the first frost arrives or possibly a bit after.

Related: 17 Ideas for Decorating with Mums That Will Elevate Your Fall Display

When to Deadhead Mums

With many old, fading flowers on your mums, they can look shabby in short order. Begin deadheading mums as soon as the first blooms begin to fade. Exactly when that is depends on the types of mums you’re growing and your growing zone.

Mums are categorized by bloom time as early, mid, or late season, but growers aim to sell them at or just before peak blooming, so you’ll likely need to start deadheading not long after you bring them home. If you grow mums as perennials in your garden, start watching your plants in August or September, depending on when they start blooming for you.

The best practice is to deadhead mums frequently, snipping off flowers just as they start to fade. If done twice a week, it’s more of a fun time to spruce up your mums instead of a chore. Waiting until hundreds of blooms are brown and crispy keeps your mums from looking and flowering their best and makes deadheading drudgery.           

Related: How Long Do Mums Bloom, and When Is the Best Time to Plant Them?

Tools and Materials Needed

You won’t need many tools to keep your mums in peak flowering condition. Sharp snips or scissors are best for deadheading. It’s a good idea to sanitize your shears or snips in a jar of diluted bleach solution before using them so that you don’t inadvertently spread plant diseases around.

Related: The 12 Best Pruning Shears of 2024 to Keep Your Garden in Check

To do so, one part bleach to nine parts water works well, or about half a cup of bleach diluted in a quart jar of warm water. Place the blades of your tool into the solution for at least a minute. Then rinse them off with clean water and wipe them dry.

For one or two small mums, you can pluck a few spent blooms with your fingers whenever you walk by. If you have a lot of deadheading to do, bring a small bucket for the spent flowers to make cleanup easier.

How to Deadhead Mums

After grabbing your clean snips, it’s time to start deadheading.

1. Identify the dead, brown, wilted, or otherwise less appealing flowers. Avoid snipping off the yet-to-open blooms, which will be green with a touch of color.
2. Cleanly snip off the spent bloom and stem below the foliage level. Whenever possible, trim just above a node where a leaf attaches to the main stem.
3. Repeat for all spent or damaged blooms. 
4. Grabbing the bloom with the finger and thumb of one hand while operating the snips with the other makes removing all the snipped flower heads easier. Otherwise, you’ll have to fish the severed flowers out of the bushy foliage when you’re done cutting.
5. While deadheading, take the opportunity to snip off any leggy, protruding stems to keep the plant tidy and shapely. 

Watch your fingers as you deadhead mums. It’s easy to get into a rhythm and cut a fingertip with sharp snips. Wearing gardening gloves can help protect your hands.

Deadheading Tips

Make deadheading your mums easier and more effective with these tips:

• If you have a lot of deadheading to do, set a containerized mum on a table or plop down next to a mum planted in the ground. You’re more likely to take your time and do a good job when you aren’t bent in half, reaching down by your knees.
• When deadheading mums, trim off the spent flower and its stem down to the next leaf or node. Snipping off only the spent flower at the base of the bloom can leave an ugly, pointy stem sticking up. If your mums are super bushy, follow the stem down and cut it below the plant’s current foliage outline or bloom height.
• If you forgot to grab all the snipped spent flowers as you went or had too many and focused only on deadheading, you can save yourself some cleanup time by using the hose attachment on a wet-dry type vacuum to gently suck them all up. It works great if you have several to do and end up with a mess on the deck or front porch.

Related: 7 Common Mistakes That May Explain Why Your Garden Mums Are Dying

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