Rose of Sharon has a surprisingly deep tap root. The life of the plant is in
the root. You can prune the top of a Rose of Sharon very hard, and it will
come right back. These plants are tough, in my experience. If you cut the
limbs back to a dormant bud on the limb (look for a bump on the bark), the
new shoots will come from that.
Wendy

"Ima Googler" wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone have any experience with pruning a Rose of Sharon? I have
several of them that have been neglected for many years and are
completly out of control and mixed with several other types of
bushes/trees. (it was this way when we moved into our house)

I need to go in and really prune the Rose of Sharon back and I'm
wondering how tough it is when it comes to losing 1/2 of its wood or
more. I'd appreciate any help on ways to minimize damage to the
tree. If I cut off the big limbs will smaller limbs branch out from
those points?

Thanks in advance!
Kim