ROSE PRUNING

by Peggy Case, Horticulture Chair

Avid gardeners love roses and roses are easy to love.

However - there is usually a lot of confusion about pruning roses. The first step is to cut off all damaged, spindly and diseased canes and those canes that rub against each other.

If you are unsure about which roses you have and have lost the care and feeding tags, start by classifying them. A good reference is Wayside Catalog for Roses or a visit to the local rose society show. Rose growers love to share their knowledge. The first group contains old climbing roses, newer old-fashioned type climbers, ramblers and the new David Austin roses bred in England. Prune these after they bloom.

Cut the oldest canes from roses that bloom only once a year, soon after they finish blooming. Trim the oldest canes to the ground. Several new canes will grow to replace them for next spring. Some old type roses bloom more than once, first trim the very oldest canes to the ground and then during the season, cut off all the dead blossoms back to a five-leaflet leaf and they will have a better second bloom.

Roses that haven’t been pruned regularly and need a lot of attention and will take three years to accomplish the transformation. Cut off one third of the older canes to the ground. The next year cut a third more and the following year the last third. The plant has now been rejuvenated and will reward your diligence with many blooms.

Hybrid teas, not my favorites, are the most difficult to keep flourishing for a long time and are best left covered until you are sure the temperature is settled. In Ohio this is usually when the forsythia blooms. Be ready to recover in case we have a late cold spell.. Then cut down the canes until the center of the cane looks like a green apple.. If the bush has many, many stems take a few old ones out at the base trying to leave at least three strong canes.

After each bloom, cut back to a five-leaf leaflet to promote the emergence of another blooming shoot. Cut with the remaining bud facing out so new growth will form a vase-shaped bush. This provides air circulation that will discourage disease and keeps the center open to avoid crowding.

The next group, miniatures, should be pruned like hybrid teas, unless they are miniature climbers, then prune like the climbers. Miniatures are hardier than hybrid teas, and you can usually root all the cuttings and make more roses when you prune, as miniatures grow on their own roots, that is not grafted.

The last group is the newer ones, ground cover roses, pot roses, shrub roses, pillars, etc. All these are a little like the newer repeat bloomers described before. Prune them as you do the old-fashioned repeat climbers if they are really big and taking over. If they remain polite and bloom their heads off without getting too big, just trim to fit the space and keep them the size you want.

New roses come out every year and each has its little differences. After caring for them several years, you will be able to judge for yourself if you should take off a little more or not as much, but always cut out the damaged or broken canes and the ones that are too old and do not bloom well .

Near the end of the growing season do not prune off dead roses in order to encourage dormancy. This is true about all types of roses except some of the roses that develop decorative hips.