Staking a mature Rose of Sharon bush that is leaning badly?
Question:I have several mature Rose of Sharon bushes that are at least 10-12 feet. Slowly they have been leaning east (the way the wind blows here). I was thinking about putting a fence post on the west side of them, pulling them as straight as I can and fastening them to the post.
Do you think this will correct the leaning? Or do you have other suggestions to fix this?
Answers:
i have the same problem with my rose of sharon.
the stems/trunk(s) are quite brittle yet they lean all the time.
your solution is the best one and the good news is that they can be pruned way down and have what is called: adventitious budding. that means that it will sprout new leaves/branches from mature wood... wherever there was a leaf axil at one time.
so... prune it back to the shape/size/height you want and then then gennnnnnnnnnntly stake it up (don't push too hard because the brittleness of the mature trunk will make it crack). you can adjust it little by little as the weeks go by.
it will correct the leaning thing but it will never really behave and grow straight up on it's own without support because it already had that chance and clearly didn't want to.
remember not to put any string/twine/wire all the way around the trunk... it'll "girdle" the stem, choke it eventually. leave one side of the loop wide open and check it every couple of months or so. these plants are fast growers, it'll grow around this support quickly.
but they are very forgiving and very worth saving.
hope this helps!
Can you prune them and then add dirt pushing them straighter and add the fence post? I think that should take care of the probelme for some time. Good luck.
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