With proper care, this garden beauty delights us with lush flowers for several months. And this care includes, above all, regular trimming. But how and when you should cut the hibiscus depends primarily on the hibiscus variety. The Chinese rose marshmallow, which is suitable as a houseplant, is cut differently than, for example, the perennial with the giant flowers. When do you cut hibiscus and what cuts can you make now, especially in midsummer? We'll explain it to you.
Cutting hibiscus – when and how much is allowed?
When do you cut back hibiscus? If itabout careWhen going through cuts, there are two types of hibiscus plants. Firstly, there is the more radical pruning and then even less radical and small cuts during flowering, which can be done several times a year. Pruning serves to promote the formation of new shoots and of course flowers and is carried out in late winter, ideally between the beginning and middle of February, but at the latest at the end of February.
You can be bold when pruning, as the plant is very tolerant of pruning. The branches can definitely be shortened by a third. It is best to only remove what is bothersome or has grown out of shape. Every now and then it makes sense to thin out the branches so that enough sunlight can reach the inside of the crown and promote flower formation.
You can easily cut and shape the indoor hibiscus at any time of the year. However, we recommend always waiting until the flowering is over and checking beforehand whether buds have already formed. It would just be a shame for the beautiful flowers. However, you would not harm the plant if you remove buds.
A little tip on the side: You can use the cut branches of both garden and indoor hibiscus as cuttingsto obtain new plants.
The giant-flowered hibiscus is a perennial that wilts at the end of the season. Even if the plant no longer produces flowers at the end of August or September, you should still wait before pruning. Only when the above-ground parts of the plant start to turn brown can you shorten them to around 30 cm.
When to cut hibiscus - why you should cut the flowering shrub nownotshould shorten
Many flowering shrubs are pruned in the fall and some hobby gardeners would like to do the same for hibiscus at this time - after all, the flowering period is over anyway and the shrub doesn't look too pretty anymore. However, you shouldnotCut the garden marshmallow because this deprives it of important frost protection for the winter. Shoot tips that are not yet fully ripe would then be more likely to be damaged, but this would protect the mature branches from frostbite.
Pruning this shrub also stimulates the formation of new shoots. So if you cut the branches now in summer or even autumn, new shoots will most likely appear by winter that are simply not robust enough to survive the sub-zero temperatures. As a result, they will most likely die and you will get sparse to no blooms the coming year.
Should you cut off spent hibiscus flowers?
At the end of the season, care or pruning of the summer hibiscus is not necessary and is even taboo. But what about the faded flowers? Does it make sense to remove them regularly (after all, they aren't particularly pretty to look at) or is this also damaging the plant? Why, how and when do you cut hibiscus flowers? We explain:
The hibiscus bush is quite invasive. This means that it can quickly multiply itself with its trained seeds, which is not necessarily desirable in a structured garden. To prevent this, you can cut off the spent flowers, because then the plant will not produce seed capsules. This care cut has another advantage: the hibiscus plant puts a lot of effort into the formation of the seeds, which ultimately means that it is not needed for bud formation. So if you remove dead flowers, the shrub can concentrate on producing flowers and delight you with flowers for longer.
Also read:Propagate hibiscus in water: the easiest method!
In addition, the old flowers remain attached to the shoot for a while. When it rains at the latest, they lay over the buds that have not yet opened, which can cause them to stick together. This in turn prevents them from developing well and opening up. This can even cause the unopened buds to simply fall off.
How and when do you cut hibiscus flowers?
Of course, you don't have to constantly run into the garden and cut off every flower as soon as it wilts. Nevertheless, this maintenance measure should be carried out regularly and you don't even need garden tools for this. Simply take the dried flower between your thumb and forefinger and break it off to the side. If you want, you can of course also use garden shears.
And until when do you cut hibiscus flowers? The shrub can produce new buds and flowers again and again until the end of September. However, flower removal is only recommended until September, for the same reasons that other pruning should not be done after flowering - the plant is stimulated to sprout, which can cause damage in winter.
Does your hibiscus have yellow leaves?Find out herewhat that could be.
