Pruning Roses
Hi there!
I have two stunning David Austin Roses that have been in my garden for around 18 months (Molineux) and they have constantly flowered.
So they don't get too wayward, they really need a good tidy and shape up - but I am quite a novice and not sure how hard I can cut them back, when to do it and how!
They are still massively flowering at the time of writing.
Over to the resident experts please??!!??
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Yes, cut back the longer stems by a third to a half now to reduce possible wind damage. Leave the serious pruning and shaping till spring.
In Feb or March, when the worst frosts are over and none is forecast for a few days, cut out all dead, damaged and spindly stems to their base. For the remaining stems, cut each one back to an outward facing bud, cutting just above and at an angle so that raindrops don't sit on the wound and encourage rotting. Leave the centre of the rose as open as possible as this encourages air flow and reduces the risk of disease.
When done, feed the plants generously with slow release blood, fish and bone and/or a specialist rose food. Mulch the roots with some well rotted garden compost of horse manure if you can get it and give occasional liquid feeds of rose or tomato food from March till the first flowers open. Keep dead-heading all spent flowers throughout the season to encourage new buds to form and your roses should keep flowering into November or December depending on the weather conditions.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
You don't need to be fussy about pruning them now. Wind rock can be a serious problem for roses over winter. The instability allows water to collect round the roots and subsequent frost will freeze the water collected killing the rose or seriously weakening it for the next season. The wind this evening will cause serious damage depending on where you are, it's howling here, just an angled cut and firm them in with your heel afterwards. Don't worry about looking for outward facing buds its getting colder and there won't be new growth. Next spring you can worry about the necessary pruning regime. You can mulch them now of you wish as it will rot down over winter and be a good start for next spring.
Thanks, just saving this for later.
Brilliant - thanks all so much for your invaluable advice (as always!) x