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How To Prune Your Rose
Pruning Your Roses
Roses are very tolerant plants, and with a little care will flourish
for many years.
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Roses grow by producing new shoots, the upper part dies off
after a couple of years.
When the upper part of a stem dies, the lower part produces a new
shoot which then goes through the same cycle. |
If a rose
is not pruned, it will turn into a mass of live and dead stems,
preventing the circulation of air and cutting out light.
Pruning removes old wood, thus allowing air and light to reach all parts of the
plant - this helps prevent disease. Click here
for details on light, medium and hard pruning.
PRUNING ROSE BUSHES
| Type |
Newly Planted
Roses |
Established
Roses |
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| Hybrid Tea |
Hard
pruning at planting time. This will encourage a strong root
system and healthy shoots. Prune 15cm (6in) from soil level. |
Medium
pruning in
March
as soon as signs of growth are noticed. |
| Floribunda |
As
for Hybrid Tea, but prune 10cm (4in) from soil level. |
Medium
pruning in
March
as soon as signs of growth are noticed. Aim to
prune some older stems to 10cm (4in) from ground level and prune
only 25% of some new shoots from the lower part of the plant.
This will encourage stems of different length and therefore more flowers. |
| Standards |
Prune
stems back to 6 buds. |
Medium
pruning - try to maintain a wine goblet shape. |
PRUNING RAMBLER ROSES
At planting time, cut the stems back to around 80 cm (2ft 6in) -
this may well have been done at the nursery.
Subsequent pruning depends on which type of rambling
rose you have.
Type 1
These are the very strong growing rambling roses which can grow as much
as 5m (16ft) in a single year. This type only requires pruning to keep
it in bounds. Prune as much or as little as you require.
Type 2
This type produces a mass of new shoots mainly from the base of the
plant. Flowers are produced from stems that have grown the previous
year. After flowering cut back roughly half of the shoots that have
produced flowers right to the base of the plant. The non-flowering
shoots should be tied to supports so that they are nearly horizontal or
fanned out. It is also possible to cut back all the shoots if a rambling
rose has got out of control.
Type 3
This type produces most new shoots half way up older branches. Flowers
are produced from stems that have grown the previous year. Cut back
stems that have flowered back to a new shoot.
PRUNING CLIMBERS
At planting time, do not prune at all. If you do, the roses may revert back to bush form in some cases.
Instead, fan out the branches so that they are not all pointing upwards.
Climbing roses produce flowers more evenly if the branches are fanned
out. Each main branch needs to be attached to the support (trellis or
wires) with ties.
Annually
(in
March), little pruning is required other than to keep the plant in
bounds and remove any weak or diseased stems. Prune side shoots to about 10cm (4in) long. Older
branches should be thinned out by cutting some of them back to about a
half of their length. Cut back to just above a new shoot.
MINIATURE ROSES
Only prune to cut out dead or diseased wood, and to keep the plant in a
good shape. Do not prune on planting. Pruning should cease about 6 weeks
before the first frost date in your area.
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