Pruning Cistus (mediterranean rock rose)

Grays

Hi again,
Could anyone give advice on when and how to prune these rock rose shrubs?
I can remember reading a while back that they only tolerate a very light prune, so that is what I have been doing each year, but as you can see from the photo, one is getting very large and is taking up space from the patio, but how can I prune this back without damaging the plant?
Also, when would you think is the best time to cut it back? it is just about to come into flower now, and is covered with lovely pink flowers when it does.

cheers all.

Slum

Prune after flowering or you won’t see any flowers this year. I ignore the advice and prune mine fairly heavily each year and it has done them no harm. If you need yours to be smaller, prune it hard after flowering and use some of the pruned bits for cuttings. Then if you do kill it you will have replacements. 

Grays

Slum said:

Prune after flowering or you won’t see any flowers this year. I ignore the advice and prune mine fairly heavily each year and it has done them no harm. If you need yours to be smaller, prune it hard after flowering and use some of the pruned bits for cuttings. Then if you do kill it you will have replacements. 

Thanks for the advice.

Cuttings sounds a bit technical for a complete novice like me, could you explain how I would go about this, the process etc?

Thanks again.

Slum

Have a have a look here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=307 or if you prefer to watch https://youtu.be/wD5PC9cmbhI . Don’t worry if you haven’t got everything they say you need, use what you’ve got and give it a go. It is very satisfying to watch a cutting grow into a plant. 

LToby

It looks like that the main trunk is within the bed space .. and those branches that are crowding your space patio can all be pruned. Before you begin cutting, just make a visual idea how shape and how high you would like the plant to be. From there you can begin pruning the unwanted branches. 

I pruned and shaped my RockRose at any time to control its spread and height too, and it always bloomed from early Summer to Autumn.

Grays

Thanks for the advice.

I was a bit nervous to prune it back, but as soon as it has finished flowering it will get a good cut.

Dovefromabove

They work very well cut into a sort of dome shape ... that way they flower over the surface of the dome and look like a flowering cushion 😊