How to Prune Hollyhocks (When & How to Cut Back Hollyhocks)

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When the time comes to prune your garden, you can rest easy—hollyhocks are hardy plants that are easy to care for. Pruning your hollyhocks is relatively simple, and can make them bloom for even longer and keep them disease-free. [1] We’re here to walk you through deadheading hollyhocks, cutting them back for the winter, and pruning them to keep away rust disease.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Deadheading Hollyhocks

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  1. Keep a close eye on your hollyhocks from April to July, when they bloom most. By removing older flower buds, the hollyhocks don’t need to expend as much energy maintaining them, and you encourage them to produce new flowers. [2]
    • Since hollyhocks will seed themselves if their flowers are left untouched, deadheading your hollyhocks will keep your garden under control by preventing them from adding new plants to your garden. [3]
    • If you want your hollyhocks to reseed themselves and have new plants naturally replace old ones, skip the deadheading. [4]
  2. When the flowers begin to sag or lose their color, it’s time to remove them. You can use a pair of gardening shears to cut the flower off at the base of the bud, or just pinch the flower buds off with your fingers. [5]
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  3. All parts of the hollyhocks are edible. Raw hollyhock flowers and stems can be added to salads and soups for a mild, delicate flavor. If you find the texture of the flowers and leaves to be a bit rough, you can use them to make a pleasant and mild tea by steeping them in hot water for a few minutes. [6]
    • Avoid consuming hollyhock leaves or stems that are affected by rust disease. If you notice brown or yellow pustules on the undersides of your hollyhock leaves, this is a sign that they may be infected. [7]
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Cutting Back Hollyhocks For the Winter

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  1. After hollyhock flowers wilt and fall off the plant, they’ll leave behind brown seed casings on the hollyhock’s stem. If you want to collect seeds to plant in the future, you can pull these casings right off the stalk by hand, before peeling off the casing to collect the seeds. [8]
    • You can dry these seeds by leaving them for a day on a paper plate placed in the sun. Then seal the seeds in an envelope, where they’ll remain viable for years. [9]
  2. By early September, hollyhocks will turn brown, and cutting them down is a good idea. Cutting back hollyhocks will keep their seeds from spreading across your garden, and help the plant survive through the winter. [10] It will also keep your garden looking fresh and vibrant through the autumn. [11]
  3. Using a pair of garden shears, make a single, diagonal cut into each of the hollyhocks' stems. Keeping your shears sharp and clean will make sure that the plant can heal well and regrow in the spring. [12]
    • Most varieties of hollyhocks are biennials, and the plant will only flower in its second year before dying. Cutting back a biennial hollyhock in before its second winter can help it live for another year.
  4. Along with any leaves that have fallen from the hollyhocks, take away the parts of the plant that you removed, and dump or burn them away from the rest of your garden. By doing so, you can keep any possible diseases that the hollyhocks carried this year away from the rest of the plant. [13]
    • After cutting down the hollyhocks in preparation for winter, you won’t have to do any additional work to take care of the hollyhocks until spring comes around. Remember that this is a hardy plant, and doesn’t need much supervision! [14]
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Pruning Your Hollyhocks With Rust Disease

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  1. Rust disease is the most common problem that hollyhocks face, and early detection is important to prevent it from spreading. Examine your hollyhocks’ leaves regularly during the wetter seasons of spring and autumn, when rust is most likely to appear. [15]
    • Although rust disease isn’t likely to kill your plant, it is a fungal infection that can spread very quickly, causing leaves to turn yellow and fall early while damaging the overall appearance of your plant. [16]
  2. your gardening shears. When dealing with diseased plants, it’s important to make sure that your tools are disinfected, so that you can prevent the disease from spreading. Soaking your tools for about 30 minutes in a mixture of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water is an easy and inexpensive way to sanitize your equipment. [17]
  3. Use your pair of shears to carefully cut away all parts of the plant with visible rust. [18] For any leaves that have signs of rust disease, cut the whole leaf off at its base. If you notice that yellow or brown pustules have spread from the leaves to the stem, cut away the stem at its base as well. Use a single, diagonal cuts for each infected area to help the plant heal. [19]
  4. If you have stems that are also infected, throw these away too. Make sure you take them out of your garden, since rust can spread easily if you leave infected parts of the plant behind. [20]
  5. Making sure that your shears are clean before and after dealing with diseased plants is important for keeping your garden healthy. [21]
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      References

      1. ↑ Andi Xoch. Plant Specialist. Expert Interview. 4 August 2021.
      2. ↑ https://extension.sdstate.edu/growing-hollyhocks
      3. ↑ https://extension.psu.edu/to-deadhead-or-not-your-final-answer-is
      4. ↑ https://extension.psu.edu/to-deadhead-or-not-your-final-answer-is
      5. ↑ https://extension.psu.edu/to-deadhead-or-not-your-final-answer-is
      6. ↑ https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Alcea+rosea
      7. ↑ https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1412-hollyhock-rust/
      8. ↑ https://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/Plants/Iliamna%20rivularis.htm
      9. ↑ https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Alcea+rosea
      1. ↑ Andi Xoch. Plant Specialist. Expert Interview. 4 August 2021.
      2. ↑ https://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/Plants/Iliamna%20rivularis.htm
      3. ↑ https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2076/2021/05/C093-Preparing-Perennials-for-Winter-21.pdf
      4. ↑ https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/hollyhocks/growing-guide
      5. ↑ https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/hollyhocks/growing-guide
      6. ↑ https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1412-hollyhock-rust/
      7. ↑ https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1412-hollyhock-rust/
      8. ↑ https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/tools-and-equipment/disinfecting-tools.html
      9. ↑ Andi Xoch. Plant Specialist. Expert Interview. 4 August 2021.
      10. ↑ https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1412-hollyhock-rust/
      11. ↑ https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=756
      12. ↑ https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/tools-and-equipment/disinfecting-tools.html

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