rose of sharon | pruningdiaries

I wasn’t sure whether to put this under Spring Pruning, or Late Spring Pruning, so I put it under both. Rose of Sharon blooms very late in the year, it also leafs out very late in spring, and I kind of like to wait until I can see those hints of green before I start pruning. Mostly, I’m removing dead tips, old seed pods, and shortening a little, but sometimes there is more to do. These ‘three little maids’ are actually in good shape, but the garden bed is small, and they are very close together so a little pruning on a regular basis is a good idea to keep them in proportion with the bed and with one another. So here are the individual before pictures. I did think of naming them after the ‘three little maids’ in the title, but I realize gardeners are not necessarily Gilbert & Sullivan fans, so I’ve desisted. The middle one of the three I photographed from the side, so you could get a better sense of what it looked like both before and after, as it’s slightly behind it’s sisters and a little obscured by them. However, it did make a good subject for some before and after closeups to demonstrate another General Principle: removing growth that is growing inwards and/or rubbing against other branches. Before →, After ↓. Just wish I’d been the same distance away when I photographed. However, I think it illustrates the point. Rose of Sharon has a naturally open structure, and I like to encourage that. So here are the three after shots. This was the first year giving these three a trim so I was a bit more drastic than I usually am with Rose of Sharon. I probably did the most work with the one ↑ that is on the far right of the group as it is leaning a lot due to competing with its sisters and in consequence having a bit of a contretemps with the sandcherry to its right. It’s like trying to keep down the bullying in a schoolyard. You have to keep everyone far enough apart that they don’t fight. So here we are, the Three Little Maids from School (OK so I got my G&S reference in anyway).