I keep seeing people overprune their hibiscus bushes

Last spring my neighbor chopped his hibiscus down to stumps in April, said it would make them fuller, and they barely bloomed all summer. I checked with the master gardener at the local nursery and she said heavy pruning like that cuts off the flower buds for the season. Has anyone else run into this where a quick trim turned into a year without flowers?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyattrobinson1mo ago

Yeah but the real issue is timing more than how much you cut - I've hacked mine back hard in late winter and they were fine, it's that window just before they start setting buds that gets you.

carr.brooke15h ago

Messed up the timing myself one year and ended up with one single bloom looking ridiculous. @terry_wood51 knows what I'm talking about, that's a hard lesson to learn.

terry_wood511mo ago

Your neighbor and me both, I guess. Hack job here too. @wyattrobinson is spot on with the timing part. I learned the hard way that cutting in early spring is a gamble. You might think you're doing the plant a favor, but really you just set back the whole season. Now I just prune in late fall after the flowers are done and leave it alone until next year. Saves me from looking like a fool with a bare bush and no blooms.