Plant a Mum in a Pumpkin – Step by Step Instructions

Here’s an easy and fun idea for fall decorating, and it’s inexpensive too (especially if you grow pumpkins and mums in your garden). Turn a pumpkin into a super cute planter for bright fall mums.

You can do this with any size mum/pumpkin combination, or you could plant the mums in gourds instead of pumpkins. Get creative and have fun with it. What a great way to use up all those extra pumpkins and gourds you grew in the garden this year.

Supplies Needed:

• Mum plant
• Pumpkin or gourd
• Sharp knife
• Spoon
• Marker
• Potting soil

How To Plant a Mum in a Pumpkin

Step 1: Select pumpkins (or gourds) and mums that look nice together. I really liked these cool looking gray pumpkins, and thought they would look really nice combined with the dark red flowers of the mums.

Planting Mums In Pumpkins

Step 2: Gently remove the mum from the pot it came in.

Gently Remove Mum From Pot

Step 3: Use the pot to trace a circle on top of the pumpkin. This will be the opening where you will plant the mum.

Trace Opening To Plant The Mum In The Pumpkin

Step 4: Cut an opening in the top of the pumpkin using a sharp knife. Follow along the line you drew as close as you can.

Cut Opening To Plant The Mum In The Pumpkin

Step 5: Remove the top of the pumpkin. Once you’ve cut the opening, pull out the top of the pumpkin and toss it into the compost bin.

Remove The Top Of The Pumpkin

Step 6: Remove some of the guts and seeds from the pumpkin to make room for the plant, if necessary. Simply scoop them out with a spoon. You don’t need to remove all of the stuff inside the pumpkin, just enough to make room for planting the mum in the pumpkin.

Scoop Out Pumpkin To Make Room For Mum

Step 7: Add potting soil. If the pumpkin is really hollow, add some potting soil so the plant won’t sink in too deep.

Add Dirt To The Pumpkin Planter

Step 8: Plant the mum in the pumpkin. I like to plant the mum so the top of the rootball is about a half to one inch lower than the top of the pumpkin.

This way dirt won’t run down the sides of the pumpkin when you water the mum. Plant the mum in the pumpkin planter just as you would in any other container. Fill in around the rootball with potting soil as necessary.

Plant The Mum In The Pumpkin

Once the mum is planted in the pumpkin, water it to allow the potting soil to setting. You can leave your pumpkin planter as is, or you can dress it up by adding a bow or some decorative fall garland.

Pumpkin Mum Planter

That’s it. For less than $10 and only about 10 minutes of my time, I have this cute decoration (of course, it would have been much cheaper if I would have grown these pumpkins in my garden, maybe next year!).

I made myself two pumpkin planters, and mixed them in with the other pumpkins currently adorning my front step. How cute are these?

Mums In Pumpkins

Wouldn’t these pumpkin planters be nice as a hostess gift, or a centerpiece for Halloween or Thanksgiving parties? The best part is that once the mums are done blooming, you can toss the whole pumpkin planter into the compost bin.

More Fun DIY Planter Projects

• How To Make An Easy DIY Tiered Planter
• How To Paint Terracotta Pots Step-By-Step
• How To Make An Indoor Succulent Garden
• How To Make A Cheap DIY Compost Bin

What’s your favorite way to use mums and pumpkins to decorate for fall?