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

Dan Espen[_3_] · 17-10-2018, 11:52 PM posted to rec.gardens

writes:

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.

Rose of Sharon is one of my favorites.
Their outstanding trait is that they bloom later in the summer
until fall with big showy flowers.

I prune in the winter when the plant is dormant.
I have one that I only allowed one stem from the ground,
remove branches up to about 4 feet, then prune the branches
to a round shape. Think of a 8ft tall lollipop.
It's more of a tree than a bush.
I've held it to the same shape and height for about 15 years now.
I'm wondering how thick I can get the main stem.
Right now it's at a circumference of 8 inches.

I get volunteers all over the yard. I sometimes move them
into a test patch where I look for good color variations.

The chipmunks and squirrels eat the seeds and make a mess.
Doesn't bother me. The leaf blower cleans it up.

So, showy flowers, at a good time of year, pruning opportunities,
and feeds the wildlife.

--
Dan Espen