Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
How to Prune a Hypericum Hidcote
How to Prune a Hypericum Hidcote. Hypericum Hidcote (St. John's wort) is a deciduous shrub that grows two to five feet tall in USDA Zones 5 to 9. It provides saucer-like yellow flowers in the summer on new growth and can be drastically pruned back almost to the ground in March or April.
Hypericum Hidcote (St. John's wort) is a deciduous shrub that grows two to five feet tall in USDA Zones 5 to 9. It provides saucer-like yellow flowers in the summer on new growth and can be drastically pruned back almost to the ground in March or April.
Things You'll Need
Gloves
Hand pruners
Loppers (depending on size of branches)
Pruning saw (depending on size of branches)
Put on gloves. Pruning Hypericum Hidcote is a process of cutting and removing branches from the plant.
Cut branches with hand shears, pruning back to within a few inches of the ground. Hand shears can be used on any branch up to the size of your little finger.
Cut branches with loppers for any branch that cannot be cut with hand shears, up to two inches thick. Hidcote shrubs in USDA zones 5 and 6 usually freeze back to the base in the winter, and thick branches are more likely in warmer zones that do not have annual winter kills.
Cut branches with a pruning saw for any branch larger than two inches thick. Pruning saws are not usually required to prune Hypericum Hidcote, unless this shrub is more of a reclamation project for a plant that has not seen pruning in years.
Clean cutting area of debris and dispose of it properly.
Tips & Warnings
Place the pruned shrub pieces on a tarp, if one is available. Having all the pieces on a tarp makes it easier to bundle up the cutting pile and move it once the pruning is finished.
Prune all shoots, not just some, to get maximum new growth and the maximum number of flowers.
Pruning can be delayed until May, but flowers will be fewer and bloom later in the summer.
Hypericum Hidcote is a member of the St. John's wort group of plants, but is not the St. John's wort that has been noted to have medical properties.
Inspect the ground around the pruning area. Since Hypericum Hidcote is pruned back to the base, check for animals, snakes, ant mounds, poison ivy and any other hazard that may have taken up residence since the last pruning.
