In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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February 6, 2008

Pruning hibiscus

Q: I planted four hibiscus last year and have never pruned them. When is the best time to prune my beautiful plants?
Christina Oscar, Roseville

A: I have a beautiful Rose of Sharon (hibiscus) growing in a pot on my front deck. It was a cutting from a friend who loves the plant and its soft, pink-colored flowers. Each year she asks me how it’s doing, and I am happy to report it’s doing well.

It’s leafless now, of course, allowing me to clearly see all the branches. Last year, some got so long they flopped over a bit, so pruning hibiscus is on my mind, too. I plan to prune the branches back about 12 inches to keep the plant shorter and bushier.

Some horticulturists suggest pruning hibiscus Spring through August, while others say August to October. I prefer to prune once all danger of frost is past, but before the plant really gets growing in Spring.

That's because it's a bit of a Catch-22. When you prune, you’re going to lose flowers while the plant grows back. The flip side is pruning stimulates the plant to grow and bloom, and you’ll have a healthier, more beautiful plant, more floriferous plant.

If you don’t prune, the plants will get leggy and the flowers will get smaller.
Pruning is far preferable to letting the plants grow out of bounds.

I always cut a branch back to a bud, and try to do more thinning cuts rather than lopping off big branches. When you’re done pruning, you want the plant to look like it naturally grew that way. You want it to look tidy, open and healthy, not butchered and chopped up.

If the plant is really overgrown, used the 1/3 rule: don’t cut more than a third of the plant off at a single pruning. Instead, wait a while to do any additional pruning. That said, I’ve known people who were so frustrated with their hibiscus shrubs that they cut them back to mere stubs of their former selves, and the plants responded beautifully with strong, new growth. That kind of pruning is best done in spring so the plant has the coming growing season to grow and recover without any chance of the new growth getting nipped by a frost.

Horticultural advice aside, to me the ideal time to prune is when I have pruning shears in my hands.

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