Pruning Roses
Rose Collection, Fantastic Four
When it comes to caring for roses there is hardly a more important activity than pruning your rose bushes.
But for many rose gardeners, especially first timers, it’s an activity that gets them worried. It may be a little difficult at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.
This article will tell you what you need for pruning rose bushes, when you should prune them and how to do it.
- Pruning roses allows for new growth.
- It allows for all new energy in the plant to be directed towards new buds and stems.
- It allows circulation of air within the plant.
- During pruning, you get rid of any dead or diseased leaves.
- Pruning also allows you to shape the plant, so that you can have the bush looking neat and tidy.
The timing of pruning is important. At best it should be done just before spring growth commences. This can vary though depending upon where you live and the climate of where you live. If you need advice on when the best time is to prune your roses in your area you should contact a local nursery that specializes in roses and ask them for advice.
A good way to know when to prune is by watching the plant itself. Watch for signs of new blooms when the buds begin to swell. This new growth will all be on new stems, so the old ones need to go. You may find that the plant has some blooms on last year’s growth; those are OK and don’t need pruning.
Tea roses in particular need to be watched keenly because they develop a lot of foliage over time which will be consuming water and nutrients that would have otherwise been used by new blooms.
What you need
- Sharp secateurs or pruners
- Gloves
- If you have big rose bushes, you will need long handled loppers.
A step by step guide to pruning rose bushes
1. Don your gloves. They are for protection from the sharp thorns and cut stems.
2. Make sure that your tools are clean. You might transfer pests to your roses if the pruners that you use were used to prune another plant that had pests and were not cleaned.
3. You will start at the bottom of your rose bush, getting rid of all old and dead debris and braches. For each branch, cut neatly at the bottom of the stem, and then check to see if you still have brown in the pith of the stem. If you do, cut a smaller section further down, and keep going until you get to pure white. It means that you have removed all the dead material.
4. Pruning cuts should be made 5mm above an outward facing bud at a 45 degree angle and slope downwards away from the bud.
5. Aim for thin twiggy stems or stems that are crossed over each other. These take up nutrients and water without adding value to the plant. You cut out crossing stems so that you can maintain the profile of the bush. Cut out the older crossing stem and leave the younger one.
6. If there are suckers, pull them out at their roots. If you cut them, they will grow even more.
7. Now it’s time to work on the top, and there are 4 methods you can use to shape your plant. Try them all to see which one you like best:
- The first is called hard pruning. You cut the stems severely back about 12-15cm. It is hardly used in rose gardening except for new plants that are being pruned for the first time. It helps to build a stronger root system, and plants that have been neglected may benefit from it too. Also, if you have a very cold winter it will be necessary to prune your rose bushes more harshly to protect them from the cold.
- The second is called moderate pruning. In this one, rose stems will be cut back to about half their length. It works well for Tea roses and Floribundas.
- The third method is called light pruning, where the stems are cut back by two thirds or less of their original length. It isn’t highly recommended as it can lead to spindly bush, but if you have vigorously growing roses, it would work well to tame them.
- The last is the easy-care method. You cut the bush straight across with a trimmer. Knockout roses can be pruned this way.
Pruning rose bushes encourages new growth and the removal of the dead material enables the plant’s energy to focus on new blooms. As you continue growing roses in your garden you will get better and better at pruning. You will find that you are able to define your bushes better and they will blossom just the way you want!
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