i have a few Hibiscus plants...each fall fall i cut 1/2" - 1"wide stalks down to 6 inches from dirt , which turn to dry hard wood...is the spring should i completely get rid of these dry woody leftover stalks ? down to dirt level?? i think all the old wood stalks are slowing new growth.
i live in rochester,ny 14626 near niagara fall thx rick scipione cell Ph. 585-415-4069

Why are you cutting them back so radically? You should be pruning to remove dead branches and cutting live branches back so each has 2 or 3 healthy leaf nodes. Those are the growth points for next springs growth.

The way you are pruning may be slowly killing your plants.

Daisy

Agreed completely with her

What type of Hibiscus do have? If it is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, then I agree with Brenden and Daisy. If it is Hibiscus moscheutos then I would say it doesn't matter. The old dead stalks are not going to affect the new growth. I usually don't even cut mine back until spring after the new growth start. Even then I usually leave 6" to 12 "

I agree also, you don't need to prune that drastically. Just cut off anything that's dead. You can tell if a stem is dead if you scrape the bark with your thumbnail and you don't see any green under the bark.

Also, Rick you really should not put your cell phone number out on a public forum. Please edit that out - see the little "Edit" link at the bottom of your post in blue letters. If we want to contact you personally, there is a Tree Mail function on the site.

I have the moscheutos hibiscus. Also known as kopper king. I was told by the garden center i bought 2 of them from to cut them a few inches from the ground.

@rick54 Hibiscus moscheutos will die back to the ground every winter. When the tops die, you can cut them back, but it is not necessary. Leaving the dead stalks will not hurt the plant or interfere with regrowth in the spring. Most people cut them back because they don't like the looks of dead plants all winter. I looked at the weather for your area and you are still have night temps down in the 40's and some day temps only reaching the 60's that's still cold for Hibiscus growth. I didn't get good growth until temps here reach upper 60's at night and upper 70's and 80's in the day.

Jay, our weather here has been weird and unusual. Especially for being may. But one of my hibiscus is actually sprouting some growth which surprised me.