Winter Rose Pruning

Rose Pruning

     Oh no! Rose pruning! I don’t know anything about roses or even how to prune them. It’s not that difficult and I will show you why.

     Roses are not as difficult as people make them out to be. Yes, they get mildew. Yes, some roses are harder to take care of then others. Yes, they do take some maintenance every now and then. But that is the fun part about roses. What is more relaxing than dead heading and bringing a fresh batch of roses into the house for everyone to smell and enjoy. It can be quite gratifying to have a few or a lot of rose bushes in the landscape.

     My focus on roses in winter is pruning. Pruning is an essential part of the roses and most roses need to be pruned back every year. We do this for several different reasons. We prune roses back in the winter to create larger more fragrant blooms for the next growing season. Generally, when roses are pruned back each winter, the first set of blooms tends to be the biggest of the growing season. They will then subside and decrease in size as the growing season progresses. Pruning roses back in the winter will help in keeping these blooms large and robust.

      We prune roses back in the winter to help air circulation throughout the plant. Roses need as much hair circulation as possible. I talked about mildew earlier and opening up the rose during pruning will help reduce the amount of fungus and mildew that a rose will get. Be careful, there are roses out there that just always seem to get mildew and fungus no matter what you do. There are products out there to help battle fungus on roses. I will talk about this in future blogs.

     We can also build shape into rose bushes during winter pruning. Deep winter pruning will help give a more balanced shape to your rose bush for the following growing season. Giving the rose shape and balance will ensure a sturdy rose bush.

     Here is a short list of items that you will need to prune your roses. A pair of hand pruners, having at least a 1” blade on it Corona puts out some great hand pruners and small tools for the landscape. Please connect to www.coronaclipper.com or go to your local Home Depot or local garden center. A good set of gloves. Try to get a pair of gloves that are resistant to rose thorns and go all the way up to your elbow. Pruning roses can be a dangerous venture and being safe is never the wrong thing. One last thing, have a set of long handled loppers. These loppers will help in pruning larger branches in the rose bush. Older roses tend to have large and thick stems that may require some bigger tools to cut.

      Thoughts on winter rose pruning vary expert to expert. I am not here to shoot anyone down or tell anyone that they are wrong in what they are doing. Here is how I do it. I like to keep it simple for everyone. Landscapers have a tendency to make this process confusing, but it is quite easy to do and still get the desired result you were looking for.

     The basic idea of deep pruning a rose bush is to get it down to four to six sturdy and healthy canes. You start by removing any and all dead stems and branches which may remain in the rose bush. The plant will put a lot of energy into keeping those dead or dying parts of the plant alive. Let’s get rid of those branches first. Second, look for any branches that may be criss crossing each other, or growing towards the inside of the plant. Pick one of the criss crossing branches and remove it. Remove any branches that are growing towards the center of the rose bush. Now that your rose bush is clear and opened up, its time to take the rest of the rose and reduce it down to 4-6 canes that are about 1-2 feet from the base of the plant. The only way that I can describe this look is this. Take your hand and open it up palm facing the sky. Spread out your fingers and then try to point your fingers toward the sky. The rose should look like a vase from the ground up. After this has been accomplished, remove all the leaves left over after pruning. Any leaves that are left on the plant will only breed fungus and disease for next year’s crop. This also means remove all leaf debris and bark from under the rose bush. This also breeds fungus and disease for next year’s crop. Let’s do our best to stay way from that.

     Now that your rose bush(es) are now pruned, it’s time to be patient. Your rose bushes will start to push out new growth about 1-2 weeks after you prune them. Do not fertilize at this time. You will want to wait until your rose bushes have at least 3 inches of growth on them before you put down any fertilizer or systemic chemicals. I will talk about proper fertilizing and pest management in future blogs.