Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
rehabbingisgreen

Severe pruning a Rose of Sharon

rehabbingisgreen
13 years ago

I have a few rose of sharon that have grown to be over 8 feet tall.

They came with the house. I'd never have planted them where they are and I am doing my best to not rip them out. I want them managable in size with more blooms. I have roses planted behind them and I'd prefer the roses be seen so I want the bushes short.

Also these things have spawned so many seedlings in the yard they are driving me mad!

If I prune feet off these things are they going to be fine and still bloom the following year?

Comments (5)

  • User
    13 years ago

    Rehab,
    You sound as if you really don't want them.
    Then, get rid of them.
    THey will always block the view from the street of your roses,they will always send out seedlings all over your yard.
    Where is it written that you must keep a plant or shrub or tree that you don't want?
    No, they will look like you cut feet off of them if you severly prune them.
    Dig them out and give your roses more room to grow, you know you will end up doing that anyway.

  • rehabbingisgreen
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I'd move them it if was practical but they are large and I'm afraid the only way would be to bring a backhoe in and pray we got all the roots but that would be on a small front yard, on a hill. I'm going to try pruning first and hope it helps and if not, then I'll likely end up digging.

  • wally_1936
    13 years ago

    If you want to keep the plant but as you say don't like where it is located, just maybe you should take some cuttings and pot them until they look hardy enough to transplant or you can direct plant those cuttings if you watch them and take good care to keep them moist and protected.

  • Edie
    13 years ago

    I know I'm chiming in a bit late. ROS grows fast and is naturally a big shrub. It wants to be ten feet tall and ten feet wide. Trying to keep it small will be a constant battle. If you want to keep the ROS, relocate the roses.

    That said, ROS respond beautifully to hard pruning. I cut mine back last fall from about seven feet tall to four feet. They are back to seven feet again. Because they were pruned the right way, the shape is much nicer, more full, lush and rounded, and they are covered in flowers from top to bottom. The house next door has an gangly unpruned one that has a non-blooming trunk. All the flowers on that one are above head height.

    They bloom on the current season's growth on the outermost twigs. If you prune during spring or summer you will remove the flowers and flower buds, and have a funny-looking non-blooming shrub, so be patient. Do it in autumn when the leaves on the bush fall.

    Since you're a rose grower you probably have a good foundation in pruning, so this info may be all you need. I am a newbie pruner, so I took a three-evening pruning class at my local cooperative extension, and it was immensely helpful.

  • User
    13 years ago

    Last year I pruned a double pink ROS severely. It was planted almost under the garage foundation, and someone had previously chopped or HACKED it to pieces without any concern for its shape. What I did was to correct that and then reshape.

    Then this year, by golly, it bloomed its little heart out. It is back up as tall as the garage, and next spring I will trim it again.

    Like Edie says, it responds well to trimming. Just don't "knuckle" it like they used to do the old style crape myrtles.

Sponsored
COLAO & PETER Luxury Outdoor Living
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars21 Reviews
VA, MD, and DC's Award-Winning Custom Pool Builders | Best of Houzz