How to Prune a Rose
Bush
When you're new to
gardening, it’s easy to get the impression that rose pruning
is a bit of a mysterious art. Don't be put off! Don't think there
is an absolutely right or wrong way; there are better and worse
ways but even if you don't prune in the recommended way you are
unlikely to damage or kill a plant. Pruning helps roses to produce
vigorous new shoots. These will be free from disease and give you
the best possible display of flowers. How hard you prune depends
on the rose type: the ones that need extensive pruning each year
are bush roses. Roses are pruned when they're dormant or semi-dormant.
This means you can prune either in autumn after leaf fall or in
spring, when buds are beginning to break. Spring pruning has the
advantage that frost damaged shoots can be removed at the same time.
It's also easier to distinguish good buds in spring too. You need
to find these and make good clean cuts just above them. en
in this workshop. Certain principlesapply to all types of roses.
What You Need:
Sharp good quality secateurs - the by-pass type; strong protective
gloves; rubbish sack or wheelbarrow for disposal of prunings. Optional:
long handled secateurs or pruners; a small pruning saw (for older
plants); protective goggles (if you have to really get into woody
plants); fertiliser if pruning in spring; hoe or rake.
.
Step 1
Your objective is to remove all unproductive growth which stops
the main shoots from producing a good display on a balanced framework
or uncluttered stem system. Start by cutting out all stems which
cross each other. Then remove all twiggy growth that only bears
one or two leaves. Brown dead wood and any other stems that show
signs of disease and damage should also be cut out. You are aiming
to allow air to circulate through the centre of the rose. If you
have a group of roses planted together, you should aim to make the
group look uncluttered.
Step 2
Cut main shoots back to within 20-30cm of the ground. Make your
pruning cuts clean and angled, directly above a bud facing outwards.
If you cut too far from a bud it may leave you with a small tip
that dies back to the bud. Too close, and you may damage the bud,
or snag it. If this happens, disease can enter the stem and cause
die-back. With cluster-flowered bushes, cut main shoots back to
between 30-40cm, depending on the height of your rose, then reduce
side shoots by between one to two thirds, cutting back to a bud.
Step 3
Shrub roses, as opposed to bush roses, need only light pruning.
This is because most modern and old shrub roses flower on wood that's
at least two years old. So you prune lightly to leave the flowering
wood in place. Restrict pruning to cutting out crossing branches
and dead, damaged or diseased wood.
Step 4
After spring pruning, scatter some slow-release fertiliser around
the base of your rose. Lightly scratch this into the surface of
the soil, using a hoe or rake.
Source: Greenfingers.com
