Pruning Roses

Roses are a fast growing plant and require a certain amount of maintenance to achieve a quality looking plant. Some believe that caring for roses is a delicate art, but really there are only a few important things to remember to ensure that your roses perform to their best each year

Before we discuss how to prune roses lets quickly mention the basics of growing roses:

Location: Choose a sunny & shelthered spot

Soil: Well draining & high in fertility & humus

Feeding: Start with a mulch of rotted manure in early spring, once flowering start feed every week with a potassium liquid feed

Pests: From mid April apply rose clear to the foliage & buds of roses to prevent the build up of mildew, black spot, rust & aphids

Now we can discuss how & when you prune your roses

Timing: The dormant season is the only time to prune roses. You can prune back overgrown and leggy plants in Mid October to Mid November. Then in early spring you can do a more precise pruning of your plants

Tools: Two tools are required. 1. A good, sharp & clean secateurs & 2. A pair of thorn proof gloves

Process: Hard pruning is the name of the game when it comes to rose bushes. You can cut the plants down to approx. 1ft off the ground. Ideally you only want to keep about 5 to 7 basal stems with some side branching

Begin by removing all the dead, dying & diseased branches. Next remove any branches that are crossing over or are growing inward

Once these rose stem have been removed yuo can focus on training the plant for the upcoming season. When making a cut be sure  to cut about 2cm above an outward facing bud. This will ensure that the new developing stem will grow outwards giving an open canopy where both light & air can penetrate

Reducing your rose to just 5 to 7 branches means that the plant can grow a smaller quantity of better growing stems

By mid summer these stems will have developed several flower stems and the plant will be well able to maintain a good show of colour well into late September

When making a cut you should ensure that each cut is clean and made at a slight angle to ground level, this is to ensure that water does not collect on the open wound.