Posted 8:59 pm Saturday, October 20, 2012
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Pruning in February makes for better rose plants later
BY KEITH HANSEN
AgriLife Extension Service
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."
- Abraham Lincoln
AgriLife Extension Service
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."
- Abraham Lincoln
Mid-February marks the beginning of the best time each year to prune roses in the Tyler area.
The only exception is with pillar, climbing and roses that bloom only on last year's growth and therefore should be pruned after the spring bloom. But hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniatures and shrub roses should all be pruned beginning in February.
Annual pruning is an important part of rose culture. Pruning produces healthier, more vigorous rose bushes with larger, more attractive blossoms. Pruning also makes your bushes more compact and easier to care for in the home garden.
Pruning helps reduce disease problems by improving air circulation and removing dead and diseased tissue.
Why prune roses at all? Rose bushes have grown for hundreds of years without such care. The answer is "quality of life," not "requirement for survival."In Tyler, the right time for spring pruning is mid-February.
This is often remembered as being associated with Valentine's Day.
The only exception is with pillar, climbing and roses that bloom only on last year's growth and therefore should be pruned after the spring bloom. But hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniatures and shrub roses should all be pruned beginning in February.
Annual pruning is an important part of rose culture. Pruning produces healthier, more vigorous rose bushes with larger, more attractive blossoms. Pruning also makes your bushes more compact and easier to care for in the home garden.
Pruning helps reduce disease problems by improving air circulation and removing dead and diseased tissue.
Why prune roses at all? Rose bushes have grown for hundreds of years without such care. The answer is "quality of life," not "requirement for survival."In Tyler, the right time for spring pruning is mid-February.
This is often remembered as being associated with Valentine's Day.
PROPER TOOLS
Begin with the proper tools. A pair of sharp bypass or scissor-type hand shears is a must. The anvil pruning shears, where one sharp blade makes contact with a flat opposing surface, will crush the cane left on the plant, allowing disease to enter the cane. A pair of loppers is also very helpful. Loppers give you the added strength and leverage to cut larger, older canes, and also the ability to reach in without getting torn up by the thorns.
All cuts should be made with sharpened pruners. Dull pruners of any type make pruning difficult and also crush the cane as it is cut. Heavy work gloves and long sleeves are also recommended to avoid the getting stuck.
Before starting to prune, examine the plant and imagine what you want the plant to look like. As you begin to prune, first remove all dead, diseased or sickly wood. Sickly canes tend to have a yellowish-green or brownish-green cast on the outside and may be shriveled.
If you find two canes that are crossing and rubbing against each other, remove one of them.
Most rosarians won't have objections to the above suggestions. However, when we come to "how to prune", we come to a topic that evokes much friendly disagreement among gardeners. What follows are general guidelines that work for most rose growers.
All cuts should be made with sharpened pruners. Dull pruners of any type make pruning difficult and also crush the cane as it is cut. Heavy work gloves and long sleeves are also recommended to avoid the getting stuck.
Before starting to prune, examine the plant and imagine what you want the plant to look like. As you begin to prune, first remove all dead, diseased or sickly wood. Sickly canes tend to have a yellowish-green or brownish-green cast on the outside and may be shriveled.
If you find two canes that are crossing and rubbing against each other, remove one of them.
Most rosarians won't have objections to the above suggestions. However, when we come to "how to prune", we come to a topic that evokes much friendly disagreement among gardeners. What follows are general guidelines that work for most rose growers.
HOW TO PRUNE
First, make all cuts back to healthy wood. When making a "heading" cut (shortening the length of a cane), make the cut no more than inch above a bud or bud-eye, sloping 45 degrees down and away from the bud. In other words, make a slanting cut, and don't leave a stub (but don't cut too close to the eye or bud either).
The height to which roses are pruned is a personal choice.
Some rosarians prefer to leave as much healthy wood as possible, but most will cut their hybrid tea bushes back to 18 to 30 inches, or prune back one-third of their length each year. The miniature roses should be pruned back to about 12 inches.
Old garden or antique roses may need to be pruned a little differently, depending on the type and use in the garden. Some antiques and species roses are like some climbers - once bloomers - and should only be pruned after their glorious spring display.
Others, such as rugosas and many species roses, may be best left unpruned to grow to their natural shape if the garden space will allow. Chinas and older hybrid teas should be pruned in much the same way as modern roses by removing twiggy, thin or dead wood and cutting back the stronger shoots to about one-third of their length each year, aiming if possible to encourage new shoots to emerge from near the base of the plant.
If your hybrid tea and grandiflora type roses have more than five canes remaining, cut out the other canes in the middle of the bush, flush with the enlarged graft union (for those types that are grafted).
This will open up the middle of the plant, permitting better air circulation during the growing season.
The height to which roses are pruned is a personal choice.
Some rosarians prefer to leave as much healthy wood as possible, but most will cut their hybrid tea bushes back to 18 to 30 inches, or prune back one-third of their length each year. The miniature roses should be pruned back to about 12 inches.
Old garden or antique roses may need to be pruned a little differently, depending on the type and use in the garden. Some antiques and species roses are like some climbers - once bloomers - and should only be pruned after their glorious spring display.
Others, such as rugosas and many species roses, may be best left unpruned to grow to their natural shape if the garden space will allow. Chinas and older hybrid teas should be pruned in much the same way as modern roses by removing twiggy, thin or dead wood and cutting back the stronger shoots to about one-third of their length each year, aiming if possible to encourage new shoots to emerge from near the base of the plant.
If your hybrid tea and grandiflora type roses have more than five canes remaining, cut out the other canes in the middle of the bush, flush with the enlarged graft union (for those types that are grafted).
This will open up the middle of the plant, permitting better air circulation during the growing season.
ROSE GARDEN
The Tyler Rose Garden is a great place to observe how to prune roses. The main garden is in the process of being cut back this week, and the Heritage Rose Garden, where you will find many different types of antique roses, will be cut back late next week.
Keith Mills, former Tyler Rose Garden supervisor, has provided a rose pruning guide, available at EastTexasGarden-ing.tamuedu in the Home Gardening/Landscape Plants section.
Keith Hansen is Smith County Horticulturist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service. His web page is http://EastTexasGardening.tamu.edu His Blog is http://agrilife.org/etg
Keith Mills, former Tyler Rose Garden supervisor, has provided a rose pruning guide, available at EastTexasGarden-ing.tamuedu in the Home Gardening/Landscape Plants section.
Keith Hansen is Smith County Horticulturist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service. His web page is http://EastTexasGardening.tamu.edu His Blog is http://agrilife.org/etg
