Advice on Cutting Back Hibiscus
 

My husband and I are going back and forth about the cutting and pruning of our Hibiscus shrubs. We have one that is so beautiful with new buds all over. I would like to just trim it a little, but my husband wants to chop it almost to the ground. Is that necessary?

My wife hemmed and hawed about that very issue and treated them as a protected species. Now when they grow too large she cuts them way back in fall and they seem to flourish come spring

We've done both. We cut to the ground when it starts to look leggy but we trim to keep it at a size or shape that we want.

They are not a cold heartyspecies....subject to frost/freeze killing of entire plant.

Temp wise we have been fortunate here in TV the last several years....no lengthy periods of time in the 20's....like the first half of our tenure here.....we lost every one of our hibiscus to frost/freezing.

We have one that each winter we cut back to about five inches off the ground. Each time in the spring and summer with the help of a little fertilizer it comes back bigger and better.

In Indiana I had a hibiscus and when I would cut it back to about 5" it grew back fine each time. Even in the cold weather there it never died, just went dormant.

From University of Florida, IFAS Extension:

Heavy pruning is best done in the early spring (February or March) and should not be done late in the fall or in the winter. Light maintenance pruning may be done any time of the year to remove diseased or dead wood, rubbing branches, and weak or droopy growth.

Hibiscus blooms are produced on new growth, so blooming is delayed and reduced if the plants are pruned heavily during the active growing season. Plants can be pruned to maintain a desired size and shape without disrupting their blooming or appearance by cutting only the longest one-third of the branches at one time. The next longest third of the branches may be cut 30 days later, and the remaining third cut 30 days after that. Light, periodic pruning avoids the need for heavy pruning.

I have two Hibiscus, one in the ground for a year, the other close to two years. I've never trimmed them and they are flourishing. Why does your hubby want to trim them?

We cut ours way back and it will grow with a flourish (we're in FL after all). We've had ours turn all yellow (the leaves) and they drop, so we'll cut back the limbs and fertilize and again...it'll grow back thick and healthy with nice blooms. We've lived here 7 yrs. and we planted it 7 yrs. ago. We've had frost(s) and it's survived!

hibiscus pruning
 

How to Prune Hibiscus: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow died.

You can't kill them ( The Black Thumb)

I don't know why Cordenny's husband wants to trim them, but I know why I do, and I appreciate the trimming info. Our landscaper put one of ours in entirely the wrong spot. It's right next to the driveway and spews dead blooms all day long which stain the driveway, especially when my husband drives over them. I did not retire to pluck blooms off the ground all day long so nobody will drive over them.

The other one is on the other corner of the house, and it has mushroomed into the tree next to it.

Note to new Floridians: stuff grows like a weed here. Plant sparingly and far apart.