When to prune Rose with Black spot
So I may have forgotten to prune my David Austin Darcey Bussell last year but it had only just been planted. This year we've had pretty bad black spot with all the wetness, I have sprayed with anti-fungus but it's come back in abundance this September. When shall I prune? When it stops flowering in November or wait till Spring? 1/3 off? Cheers
Last edited: 02 October 2016 16:06:14
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I'm sorry you've not had a reply until now.
Regarding your 'Darcey Bussell' rose, which is a gorgeous reddish rose isn't it?...you have a couple of options with pruning. You can leave it until next March and cut off that 1/3rd if you want, - you don't have to, or prune in November as I do, as I like to tidy up for winter. Unless you live in the far north, then our maritime climate is amenable to pruning when you like, and if you get some dieback over the winter, well just cut it out next Spring. It's really nothing to worry about.
I don't spray and at this time of year roses are winding down for Autumn, so their immune system is less robust. The majority of roses will get blackspot here at this time if they didn't earlier. Sometimes I might cut off all the diseased foliage and let it produce new again. Or just ignore it. It'll come back again next season at some point, whatever you do.
Incidentally, where I am in the east, we've had a lovely dry warm summer since June, which was very wet, but I think it's been one of the best summers in a long time... still got black spot on some roses though...I might just cut a few of the leaves off, sometimes I'll defoliate the whole bush and let it regrow, as there are lots of other things going on in our gardens I don't see it as too much of a problem.. next year I might try Uncle Tom's Rose Tonic on a few roses but I don't use insecticides or fungicides normally...
best wishes,
Thank you very much Marlorena! I like you am more of a fan of the autumn tidy up. I'll try to discard any fallen affected leaves and burn. I bit the bullet and did the same with my other David Austin rose in August, it's come back healthy as ever - still growing. Cheers!