Rose Pruning
Bearing in mind what a mild Winter we have had, I have hesitated to prune my roses, and they are romping away at all angles unchecked! Should I leave them in peace this year? The climbers are not included in this question as they are under control. It's the Shrub Roses and the Hansa
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I grow rosa rugosa....they are extremely hardy and I usually prune quite late ie around feb/march time....but it's best to refer to the rhs website for specific breeds and their numerous idiosyncrasies.
Hi. If you are in the North like me I would wait till early March, if in the soft South now would be fine.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I've just given my roses a prune to get them in good shape; I'm in the Fens and it isn't very cold at the moment.
I should have read this before asking about pruning roses earlier today
I pruned my rugosas really hard last year and they were fabulous afterwards. Do I do this every year, or should I leave them until 2015 as the shapes are good. It is very mild here ( as everywhere I think) My neighbour succeeded in nearly murdering my roses last year when he tried to kill his conifer hedge. I lost nearly all my shrubs my side, so hesitate to prune too hard after this set back. Should I just tip to the nearest leaf bud perhaps?
An expert rose grower once told me "you can prune them hard, you can prune them light, you can prune them early, you can prune them late, they will still flower!"
Lawnmower's a bit drastic! Sounds like my husband, It never ceases to amaze me what he 'didn't see'!!
I Have a climbing rose which I want to train up beside my front door - it has grown in one long stem for the las two years and only flowers tiny little roses over a very short period - this year it has lots of new shoots - should I be ruthless and prune it right back? I am a novice and frightened I will kill all growth!
many thanks
NO. The new shoots will bear flowers but you really need to see if you can encourage that one long stem to grow in a more horizontal or diagonal direction by twining or training it. This will slow down the passage of nutrients and hormones that encourage flowering so you get a more even spread and no just a few flwoers at the tip.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Obelixx I have been doing just that with my roses this morning. I only started growing roses last summer. Not touched The Pligrim or The Rector yet.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'