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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:
Thanks for your thoughts. At a minimum, I’ll now make a point of saving some of the seeds and planting them in early spring. I’ll make sure I keep my eyes on them, as the flowers finish their bloom and drop their seeds.
It’s mid August in Toronto and I have a couple of negelected small Rose of Sharon growing on and through a wire mesh fence line (growing from my neighbour’s side of the fence). She passed away over a year ago and so the property has been neglected for over a year now).
They are blooming now … even though it was in very deep shade on her side. I just cleaned up a lot of lilac tree overgrowth on my side and found them. They now will have access to a lot more sun on my side of the fence (but still not “full sun”).
My question: The house just sold for a 2nd time and I expect the new owner will eventually tear down the house and do construction on the site. I know the growing season (summer) is the “wrong” time to try to relocate them to my side of the fence … but if I did would it in all likelihood be a gaurenteed death sentence? They are now basically just very tall spindly “vines” that were struggling to reach sunlight higher in the lilac tree overgrowth. Worst case I’ll wait till fall if / when I’m able to connect with the new owner and ask, before I see construction (= destruction) activity getting ready to happen on the fence line, but I’m just curious about my chances if I tried now. Thanks.
Hi John,
It might be really hard to dig up… I find even seedlings are tricky. But it’s worth a try. You might have better luck taking some of the seeds, which should be appearing soon and saving them to plant in the early spring. For the ones I miss clipping off, I have rose of Sharons coming up everywhere!
I was wondering about When to prune.! My rose of Sharon is very ‘leggy’ on the sides. I would like to prune it so it’s a little more compact and fuller. Thank you.
Hi Donna, you’ll want to prune in early spring, while the plant is dormant.
I live in Northern IL, zone 5, and my rose of Sharon’s still appear dead. Three have the smallest size leaves at the bottom. Should I cut it to the ground for new leaves to
Spring up? I think the wood is dead. I trimmed it around April or May to
Encourage new growth but I’m terrified they died. They are 2-4 years old. I remember last year they came up late but this feels really late.
Hi Love Flowers,
I would wait just a little bit longer. I’m in zone 6a and mine are JUST leafing out! I noticed that some branches are also leafless, so I’m wondering if the freeze thaw of winter might have harmed them.
I made the mistake last fall not realizing this could be an issue, i trimmed a couple of branches on my Rose of Sharon Tree, an attempt to shape it. My OCD had been giving me fits. Well unfortunately this year the very branches I trimmed are now not putting on any leaves, will it come back or did I kill them.
The rest of the tree is fine.
Thanks
Hi Lora, Rose of Sharon is typically one of the last trees to leaf out – and rather slowly. It’s possible they’ll still put on leaves, but if the rest of the tree is full of leaves, those branches may not come back.
I just pruned my 10 ft. Rose of Sharon for the first time in many years
As it’s gotten taller it blooms less and the blooms are mostly at the top of the tree. The yree was fully leafed but only the open dead seed pods remained and there was no sign of buds. I reduced the tree to about 3-4′. Will it bloom this summer?
Hi Jan, rose of Sharons bloom on new wood, so it’s very possible your tree will bloom this year.
Hi, Tara,
My Rose of Sharon bush is very old and woody, and is misshapen in spite of pruning it back early spring each year. It also has fewer blooms every year. I was wondering if it would help to cut it almost to the ground come late winter, early spring and perhaps renew it? Do I dare? It is surrounded by volunteers (suckers) that grow like weeds, and I can’t really control them adequately. Would it be best to remove the original bush and start to cultivate one of these suckers? Any help you can give this amateur would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Nelda, I had a couple of rose of Sharon casualties after last winter’s weather. They both only bloomed on one side of the tree this summer! However I think I might have to cut my losses. I’m not sure if pruning it all the way down would work. The suckers you see are likely new plants grown from the seeds that drop each year. You can definitely leave one to grow. You can prevent these volunteers by shearing off the seed pods when they’re still green, before they open. That’s something that I am doing in my garden right now. 🙂
Hi Tara,
We planted a Rose of Sharon up at our home where there are harsh conditions (zone 9 near Virginia City NV). It grew great this spring until a rabbit pruned it severely! I’ve brought it to town and put it back in a large pot for a balcony. It has come back with lots of new leaves. Is it possible to train it to grow against a wall with a trellis? I’m thinking if not, I would create a kind of Rose of Sharon tree ( I saw at the nursery). The balcony is in Reno, nv. Thanks for your feedback! I hope you respond to the email I gave.. Suellen
I Suellen,
I haven’t seen rose of Sharons trellised before. You could try to espalier it…
I am attempting to create a Rose of Sharon tree from a volunteer.
I’ve created a main stalk and clipped off side growth. I need to know if I clip off the top.
Hi Blanche,
Generally you keep the strong stems and eliminate the rest, so if the top is one of the selected stems, I would leave it. 🙂
20 years ago I “inherited” a short (5′), stumpy (6′) rose of Sharon planted in a 10’diameter plot surrounded by red bricks and concrete.. First couple of years just trimmed crossing limbs after 1st hard freeze and shriveling leaves indicated dormancy. When it reached 8′, I started trimming it back by one third every other year. Never had a single seedling, just assumed it needed a nearby rose of Sharon. The past three years I’ve needed an arborist to trim it as it had exceeded 12 feet. This year he asked what we had been feeding it (nothing), as he measured it at 15′ 7″. The tallest and most robust he had seen in nearly 30 years as an arborist. This is the first spring since we’ve moved and I’m missing my long talks (I know, I’m a half-cracked egg)