How to Keep My Confederate Rose from Being So Leggy

Confederate rose (Hibiscus mutabilis), also called cotton rose, features large, usually double, pink and white flowers that make a big impression, but only when they're low enough on the plant to admire them up close. The deciduous shrub reaches 10 feet tall in a single season where it grows back from its roots each year when it is touched by frost, and it reaches up to 15 feet where it grows back on a woody framework. It is hardy in in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10. Proper pruning avoids an unattractive, leggy appearance and keeps the plant producing foliage and flowers from base to tips from summer into fall.

Loppers
Bypass pruners
Household antiseptic cleaner
Paper towels
Measuring tape

Instructions

- 1
  Clean the blades of your loppers and bypass pruners with household antiseptic cleaner and wipe them dry with paper towels. Cleaning the tools before pruning prevents passing on plant diseases and fungus. The task is especially important when pruning a confederate rose's live wood.
- 2
  Cut through each confederate rose stem that is 4 to 6 inches from the ground by using loppers. Make each cut at a 45-degree angle. Cut 1/4 inch above a swelling bud or leaf scar if a stem contains live wood. Cutting at a 45-degree angle allows water to shed and avoids promoting rot in dead wood.
- 3
  Remove some new growth when it is 18 inches to 2 feet tall, selecting shoots to cut that are evenly spaced throughout the shrub. Cut the selected shoots to the ground. Removing those shoots allows sunlight and air into the plant. The technique helps the shrub's interior and bottom portion stay healthy, preventing legginess.
- 4
  Trim remaining shoots to varying lengths, though no shorter than one-half their heights. Make each cut at an outward-facing side shoot rather than straight across the top. Cutting straight across the top, or giving the shrub a "haircut,: promotes bushy growth from the point of the cut, which can shade lower stems, causing them to drop their leaves and foliage.

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