Pruning Roses – What’s All The Fuss?
Pruning Roses
Some folk are scared off by the thought of pruning roses, thinking that if they don’t do it right, don’t cut it at the right angle or to an outward facing bud that they’re going to somehow damage their roses. This type of thinking takes the joy out of growing roses.
There are instances where roses just get sheared down yet grow on to be healthy specimens producing masses of flowers.
I was at a rose talk a few years ago at a very well known and popular rose nursery. This nursery grows their own rose plants to sell and the fellow who was giving the talk said that with their roses they just go along and use hedge trimmers to prune them.
The audience, who consisted of a lot of die-hard rose lovers like myself was aghast, but this fellow went on to explain that with the hundreds of roses they grow out in the field they just don’t have the time or man-power for pruning roses individually, and after this shearing prune they come back looking great year after year.
Another example of less than perfect pruning is where local councils use heavy duty hedging shears to annually prune the roses that grow in public areas to save costs. Obviously these roses are more your bush variety rather than your hybrid teas, but even hybrid teas survive a less than perfect pruning.
I’m not recommending that we all start using shears to prune our roses or make a shoddy job of it, but I am trying to make the point that you don’t have to break into a sweat worrying over whether you’ve pruned your roses to the exact specifications of the experts.
I will be writing some more articles about pruning roses the “right” way but if you make a mistake, don’t worry about it. Roses are very forgiving plants – they don’t know or care if you’ve made a cut at the right angle or to an outward facing bud, they just keep on producing flowers regardless.
When I first started growing roses, before I became a horticulturalist, I would get out a rose book and try to follow the directions for pruning roses – trying to cut it at the right angle and to an outward facing bud, and half the time I got it wrong but my roses still grew beautifully. So just remember if it’s not done perfectly don’t stress.
With every annual pruning you will become more confident and get a better feel for how to go about it and realise that you can’t really go wrong, even if you don’t do a ‘perfect’ pruning job..
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when is the best time to transplant roses?????
Hi ej
The best time to transplant a rose is when it is dormant. That’s usually during winter or early Spring. Of course you need to take into account the climate zone you live in. In warmer climate zones you can transplant any time through the winter, however if you live in cold climate zones where the soil freezes over then it would be wise to wait until early spring, when you can work the soil, before transplanting.
When is the best time to prune rose bushe?. Can I cut them back now?
Thank you!
Hi Doc
It depends where you live in the world. In general, for warm districts of the world, mid winter to very early spring is best, and in cooler climates, leave pruning until spring, after the last hard frosts. To get the ideal time for your particular location, either go to your local plant nursery and ask them or ring a local garden club or rose club and ask them. That way you will get knowledge based on local hands-on experience, which you can’t beat.
Hi, just want to say thanks for this article. It is great that you do not over dramatize the pruning of the rose. Better encourage people to experience the joy of growing their own roses, than scare them by talking about how hard it is to prune them! Everyone can grow roses, even if they never will be experts! Thanx!