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I have a Rose of Sharon bush that is now blooming, when is it a good time to prune it?
It was hidden for at least 30 years by a bottle brush, I pruned the bottle brush, sun light gave the Rose of Sharon life and is now blooming beautiful lavender flowers, multiple branches that come up from the ground, pruning in the fall is best I think, not sure.
2 Answers
- ?Lv 72 years agoFavourite answer
There is a persistent myth / old wives tale that you need to prune things in the fall. I don't know how it got started but it is dead wrong. Pruning encourages the plant (and trees are indeed plants) to produce new growth and new growth requires energy and resources from the plant. Why would you want to do this to a plant when it is going dormant for the winter? Pruning in the summer is also not good because the intense sunlight and heat produce quite a bit of stress. Pruning is basically an injury (shock) and you don't want to shock a plant and then subject it to the stress of the brutal summer sun and heat.
The time to prune is in the early spring when the plant is getting ample rainfall and gentle sunlight. The stress will be minimal and the plant will easily recover.
Source(s): Decades of experience. Plus here is a citation from an established authority: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a2...
