GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Rose of Sharon

[email protected] · 17-10-2018, 09:58 PM posted to rec.gardens

On Wed, 17 Oct 2018 13:35:12 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Saturday, March 30, 1996 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, UKSKIER wrote:
I desperately need advice on when to prune rose of sharons. I planted
these twiggy looking babies summer of 94 and 95 and they're just tall and
straggly. I wasn't sure if it's okay to prune them now - since they don't
bloom til July. If so, how should I do it? Can I cut back quite
severely. I really want them to bush up and give me a bit of a privacy
screen.

Thank you - Pat

Pruning any plant mostly depends on location. The best time to prune
is when the plant goes dorment, after the first heavy frost... so the
plant doesn't pump out all its sap.
That said I detest rose of sharon due their being so invasive with
them spewing all their seeds far and wide. And since they're
deciduous they offer no privacy for half the year. Rose of sharon is
a disgusting plant, an invasive weed. If your property abutted mine
I'd be out at night spraying your rose of sharon with defolient.