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When I moved into my current home and started to get to know my garden, I discovered I had five rose of Sharon shrubs on the property. We moved in the fall and the trees had been meticulously pruned, so we didn’t need to worry about pruning them that first year. Fast forward to our second spring and I couldn’t figure out what all these tiny little weeds sprouting up in my lawn were. I soon discovered they were miniature rose of Sharon plants—dozens of them, trying to establish themselves in my garden. In this article, I’ll share tips on pruning a rose of Sharon, but also when to shear off those seed pods to avoid the misery of pulling up seedlings.
A member of the mallow family (Malvaceae), rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is also referred to as Althea. Like hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharons are hardy down to about -15°F (-26.1°C), don’t mind humidity and poor soil, and are drought resistant. They love full sun, but don’t mind a bit of light shade. There are quite a few different varieties, some with single flowers and others with double flowers.
Rose of Sharons add nice height and lovely blooms to the landscape. Mine have all been pruned to be trees, but they can also be trained into a hedge.
Pollinators love rose of Sharons. I’ve seen bees coming out of flowers, heavy with pollen. The hummingbirds are always flitting about the blooms, as well butterflies.
When to shear off rose of Sharon seed pods
Pruning a rose of Sharon can happen in the fall, but if you prefer to wait until late winter or early spring when the plant is still dormant, it’s important to know when to get rid of the seed pods. When the shrub is in bloom, keep an eye on it as the blooms start to fade. Those blooms will turn into fat, green seed pods, each containing several seeds. This usually happens in late summer.
You want to make sure you trim off those seed pods before they start to turn brown and open. Use a sharp pair of pruners to trim the seed pods from the tips of all the branches. Don’t add rose of Sharon pods to your compost pile. You could eventually be pulling seedlings out of anywhere you spread the compost in the garden. Rose of Sharon seedlings establish themselves quite quickly and become more difficult to pull as they start to grow.
Here’s a video showing how I shear the seed pods in the fall to keep my rose of Sharons from self-sowing all over the garden:
Pruning a rose of Sharon in early spring
While rose of Sharons don’t need much attention, annual pruning helps to maintain the overall form of the shrub. The odd limb may have succumbed to winter damage. If the plant has become dense, removing inner branches can help to improve air circulation. Younger shrubs won’t need to be pruned until they start to mature.
Rose of Sharons are best pruned when dormant because the flower buds grow on fresh wood. Once you see new growth in the spring, it’s best to wait until fall. I usually prune my rose of Sharon in late winter or early spring. It’s important to note that a rose of Sharon is among the last shrubs to get its leaves in the spring. Every year I think I’ve killed mine, but they always come back (eventually).
While the plant is dormant, you can get a good look at the shape to figure out what to cut back. Look for unruly branches that affect the tree’s shape. Using a sharp pair of loppers, prune out any branches that form near the bottom of the trunk. While rose of Sharon seedlings are generally the result of seeds, sometimes a shrub will produce suckers. You can remove them by snipping them off at soil level.
This is also a good opportunity to thin out weak branches, and dead or damaged limbs. Healthy branches will not break off easily.
Lastly, prune for shape. You want to encourage upright growth. Remove branches that are too tall or growing in the wrong direction. Never prune more than a third of the total height of the shrub.
Pruning a rose of Sharon in the fall
You do a light pruning on a rose of Sharon immediately after it flowers—usually in early fall. This will help take care of the aforementioned seed pods and the actual pruning all in one go. Shear the seed pods before they dry out and open, scattering all their seeds to the garden below. This can be done into late autumn (though it’s possible they’ll have opened by then!).
A light layer of mulch added in the fall can add a little insulation for the roots below over the winter.
More shrub-pruning tips
Learn when to prune:
Hi Tara,
You were right. I had to be patient. The little leaves started, we had a cold snap and they all turned brown, but now it is coming back!
I have another question. All these little plants are growing around the bottom of the main plant. I assume they are seedlings from the seeds dropped last year. Do I let them grow up around the main plant of pull them?
Thank you!
Oh good! I’m glad to hear it. Yes, you now have a rose of Sharon farm. 😉 I would pull them all out. You could try potting a couple if you want a rose of Sharon elsewhere on your property. Also, in the fall, once the seed heads form, if you want to save the work of pulling out the seedlings, just shear them off. 🙂
I’m so worried about the rose of sharon I inherited with our house we bought 2 years ago. I didn’t know I couldn’t prune it in the Fall. I waited until all the leaves were gone. I’m not seeing any leaves sprouting on the majority of the bush. I have 2 in the backyard I didn’t touch and they have lots of buds and leaves sprouting. It was such a huge bush that was allowed to over grow, but it was beautiful and had a ton of blooms.
Hi Tonya,
My rose of Sharons have been super slow to come back after the harsh winter and long spring we’ve had. All of mine have a minimal amount of leaves and are still looking quite bare, but I’m hoping with some warmer weather they start to fill in! ~ Tara
We received three dwarf Rose of Sharon bushes last year and they bloomed beautifully – it is now May 15, 2019 and not a bud or bloom is on any of them – did notice that the deer were munching on them in the dead of winter – (thought they were deer resistent) – could they have killed them?
Hi Patricia, Mine are SUPER slow to leaf out. I have one that still looks dead, but I’m hopeful because I noticed on the weekend that another of my rose of Sharons has tiny little green buds all over it…
i have had a rose of sharon several years now but this year I notice that the back of the bush, against the fence, is leafing out but the front of the bush, into the yard has only tiny little shoots of green, just starting to leaf. Why is part of the plant doing better than the rest, especially since I would think it would be the other way around (fence small buds and front in leaf!).
there are several branches trunks coming out from the base of the tree…should i have pruned these out when the plant started growing so there was only one trunk?
thanks
Hi Laurel, that does seem odd that the front of the tree would be slower, but it’s encouraging that there are shoots of green. My rose of Sharons (I have a few) have been VERY slow to leaf out this spring, but the others have tiny buds. I don’t think the extra branches should affect the rest of the tree.
I have several Rose of Sharon, I prune in the Spring. Every year, it seems there are lots of buds that don’t open. What can I do to assure all buds bloom. (I have about 30 Rose of Sharon bordering my yard)
It’s hard to say as it could be one of a few factors – there could be some type of stress to the plant, too much water, over-fertilizing, a pest or a fungal disease, that is causing the buds to drop prematurely.
What time in the spring is appropriate to prune them? I’m afraid of cutting off all my gorgeous blooms. I live in Toronto and I don’t think I see buds on my rose of sharon yet, but I’m nervous about pruning off the gorgeous blooms as my bush has so many. I just want to prune it back a little because it has gotten quite large.
Hi Tara,
Since the blooms grow on new wood, the best time to prune is in the spring when the plant is still dormant. You should be okay to prune the older big branches. ~ Tara
Cambridge Ontario. I cut the seed pods off every fall and trim down my five beautiful 10′ Rose of Sharon’s to manage the long branches and size.
I just planted a Rose of Sharon last summer. I was heartened to see that you too were concerned when it appeared to be dead in the spring (no pruning was needed yet so that isn’t the problem). But how long should I wait? It is April 13 in Boise Idaho, Zone 6.5. I don’t see any greening or buds and all our trees and shrubs are budding or blooming and most of the perennials are at least showing a little growth. When do I give up hope?
Hi Abby, I would wait a little while longer. They really do look dead for awhile when other things are leafing out, and then seem to spring to life. ~ Tara
We live in central MO and ours just now have tiny buds, they seem to be really slow when it’s still chilly out, highs in the 50s-60s.
At a lecture at Sctt Arboretum several years ago, they recommended pruning/shaping in Jan/Feb here in Zone 5/6. I’ve done so for the last 2 years and have gotten more blooms than before. Of course that mean more seed pod removal in the fall, but it is worth it.
Thanks for the advice, Kathy!
I have 3 Rose of Sharon, 2 pinks and 1 white.
I just cut off all the seedling pods like I do every fall when the seed heads show up and my trees flower beautifully every year.
Well, I did have a Rose of Sharon in our garden years ago, also inherited when we moved in and I did, in fact, end up killing it – likely from pruning it back in the fall. Oops.
Thanks for the info, Tara. Coincidentally, I’ve had a copy of the Pruning Answer Book on my desk since spring but have yet to crack it open…guess I had better get to that this winter!
It’s a great resource, I consult it often! 🙂