How to Cut Back Hollyhocks
Cut back hollyhock stems to the ground after they begin to turn brown, but before they release seeds and multiply all over an area. Care for hollyhocks by giving them full sun and good drainage using tips from a sustainable gardener in this free video on gardening.
Transcript
Hi, This is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we are going to talk about how to cut back a Hollyhock. Now, hollyhocks are beautiful flowers that bloom in the summer and they have long stems with lots of paper type flowers that come in gorgeous pinks and reds and whites. They are really pretty and they are really dainty like little pansies all the way up the stem. To take care of them you just put them in a sunny spot with good drainage and lots of room to grow. Because they can get fourteen feet tall. But when I consider how to grow them and where to grow them I always consider their native areas. Okay, Hollyhocks are native to China even into the Middle East. So they like really hot summers and they can still handle really cold winters. So they can be grown pretty much anywhere in the United States even up into Alaska. So hollyhocks are from China and the Middle East but they can grow in pretty much any zone. They can handle really cold winters and they can handle climates with no Winter at all. But, when you are growing them in the colder winter areas at the end of the Fall they will just turn completely brown and die back. They will send seeds everywhere. So if you have a bed that you want to control always watch those seeds. I like to cut them back to the ground as soon as the blooms are done blooming and they start looking a little bit tacky. I chop them off before they get seeds. Because if you wait until the seeds come on them they will just multiple everywhere. Your whole entire bed will be covered with hollyhocks. If you have an area where you wouldn't mind that then let them go to seed. As soon as they are done, the seeds have dropped and they have turned brown completely , just chop off the stems down to the ground. Then that way they will come back the next year beautifully. So the hollyhock is a beautiful plant that will grow in almost any climate. It will give lots of beautiful blooms throughout the Summer. It's a great cut flower and a great dry flower that you just can't resist.
