One sad old rose revived thanks to you - but what next?

johnnypenstemon

Hi all, I asked for advice here late last year for a very leggy sad old shrub rose that I’d inherited and as you can see from the before and after pics it’s responding so well to the brutal cut back advised. Many thanks for the help.

Going forward, what can I do with that new ground growth to the right which I assume is rose? Can it be a basal cutting and if so, can I take that now? And secondly, the revived rose has a lot of growth from the very base - should I leave everything or take off the lowest bits as one would do with suckers on a small tree?

Many thanks and cheers, Johnny.

delski

I am no expert, but growth from the base of a rose will be a new stem and I wouldn't cut it off. I only have experience of taking hardwood cuttings in autumn from pencil thick stems and they've all rooted brilliantly so will be interesting to see responses from other gardeners more experienced with roses.

Tack

I am not the expert you are looking for! But the green growth is growing from the rootstock and needs removing. The rest is doing well and should be left.

johnnypenstemon

Tack said:

I am not the expert you are looking for! But the green growth is growing from the rootstock and needs removing. The rest is doing well and should be left.

Thanks for the responses. Tack, it hadn’t occurred to me that this is a grafted rose (I should be more observant - guess the “gnarly area” a little way up the main stem is the give away) and assumed that the new green growth would turn red in time.

I’ll do some research on the theme and how best to remove the new growth and leave the rest alone. Many thanks and happy gardening! Cheers, Johnny

Pianoplayer

Hi - the wonderful new red canes growing are great, and show that the rose has responded really well to the cut back! These will form the new skeleton for the rose. It will be good to see the flowers.

The soft green sucker does need removing, and there are lots of YouTube videos etc about this.

johnnypenstemon

Pianoplayer said:

Hi - the wonderful new red canes growing are great, and show that the rose has responded really well to the cut back! These will form the new skeleton for the rose. It will be good to see the flowers.

The soft green sucker does need removing, and there are lots of YouTube videos etc about this.

Cheers Pianoplayer, good to know. I’ve checked the videos and will be gently exposing and twisting that sucker off as soon as the sealer product arrives. The jury seems to be out on whether the latter is necessary, but I’ll use it just in case. Always handy to have around for suckers and other shrubs and small trees. Best, Johnny