Ask-a-Dave's-Gardener: Hibiscus tree(??) falling over, 0 by grnhorngrnthum

grnhorngrnthum wrote:
I have recently, since becoming a homeowner, taken a liking to gardening and creating a zen type atmosphere in my backyard to help alleviate some of the stress. Poor 4x4 in the garage has been sitting half built in the garage a very long time because, frankly, after working heavy maintenance on passenger aircraft 6 days a week sometimes 14 hrs a day, the sight of a wrench makes me want to vomit. So I am new to this, and I appreciate any help I can get from you!

On to my problem. I have what I think is a traditional Chinese rosa-sinensis, I posted a bloom from it to show you which may help you help me, but I can't snap a shot of the actual bush right now because its dark and storming. But I'll try to paint a mental picture. I live in Brandon, FL and I have quite sandy soil. Our back yard does pretty good with flowering plants and I fertilize, not religiously, but enough I think. About 3 years ago I got a couple Lowes Hibiscus, I think they said they would mature to 8' to 20' possibly, and I got them for that reason. I want to grow these into tall tree-like hibiscus, right now they are about 2" diameter trunk, and 6' tall at its highest stem, and just about as wide. They have grown and bloom well, but now the branches are quite stemmy, and it is not growing as tall as I would like it to be growing, it is growing more out than up. I trimmed it back last fall, but its still doing the same thing. Not only that, they have always kind of leaned over, both of them, I have tried about a year of stringing them back up and when they look better I remove the string and back over they go, eventually. I'm thinking sun direction? I have tried to stake them, but I cant even get past the root ball, I'm afraid I might hurt it. However, when I step around the soil, it seems mushy, like I didn't pack enough in there maybe. I would think it should be more stiff and holding the tree trunk firmly, not seeing the ground move when I rock the trunk back and forth.

My Question: Are there any rules to digging these out and re-prepping the soil around them with something that will hold better, like a peat mixture, or should I try to do it while its still in ground? And since I want it to be more tree-like; during the Tampa area "fall" season should I cut off the lower stems/branches up a little past the first branching point and encourage it to grow more upward the next growth season? Please help, I'm a crusty young-old sailor in need and this is causing me stress. :-)