"Brandi" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone!
I'm new to this group and my name is Brandi. I've had a question about
mums
for awhile. I have hardy mums in my yard that I planted two years ago.
Last year, they came back twice as big. I don't want them to be any
bigger
than that so can I prune them back without hurting the blossoms that bloom
in the Fall? If so, when and how would be the best time to prune? I'm in
Pennsylvania.

Since you didn't get a response, I'll try...

My parents had mums when I grew up there. They never touched them, other
than to weed, and they never got bigger every year, they'd just go dormant
then come back the next year. My guess is your perennials weren't full size
when you planted them, and now they are. They probably won't get any
bigger, if they're the same type I'm familiar with.

On the other hand, mums, being a perrennial, WILL spread and need to be
thinned occasionally. This wasn't a problem when I grew up as they were
part of a flowerbed the length of the house, and there was plenty of
expansion space. If this is the issue, you need to divide them
occasionally. My experience with perennials is that you can divide them
pretty much whenever you feel like it, as long as you water and feed both
old and new plantings religiously after the division. That said, it's best
to divide the plants when they're not actively flowering.

-Tim