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New to roses. How to prune?
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Posted by
rocks911 (
My Page) on
Fri, Apr 27, 12 at 10:12
So I have planted a couple of different types of roses around my property, and was wondering how to prune them.
I have several miniature rose bushes in full sun that are in their second year. I live in the Dallas area and last year was pretty brutal with the heat so they didnt look so well but this year they're doing great. The problem is I dont know how to shape them. There is a main stem or two on each plant that is taking off like nobodys business and I was wondering if they need to be cut back or if I'm just supposed to let them go. They dont really have any branches, just long thick thorny stems reaching for the sky. Do I need to cut these back to encourage branching?
I also planted Knock Out roses 2 years ago in a less sunny area and while they look healthy they too are leggy, even more so than the miniature roses.
Both of these bushes are producing blooms this spring and I was wondering if I need to cut them back after this first bloom. And how far to cut them back? The Knock Out's main stems are like 3 feet long and longer, do I need to cut these back a bunch?
I have surfed this site and read a lot about cutting roses but seems more confused than ever so please forgive this repetitive mundane question. I'm just trying to understand how to properly train these new bushes. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| There's no single answer; it depends on the growth habit of the rose variety and how mature is the plant. Do be confident that you won't do any serious damage by pruning. Do remember what you did and observe the results for each variety. Do keep in mind that it can take around four years for shrub and climbing roses to mature and fill out. With vigorous shrub roses that make long canes (say 6-8'), often it is useful to cut these back to 3-4' to encourage branching. Some roses such as the old teas (not hybrid teas) develop best with little or no pruning. The normal main pruning time is late winter/early spring when the plants are just leafing out or before. If you skipped that, you can prune just after the first flush of bloom, or at any season you can cut back individual canes as soon as their flowers fade. For specific advice, you would need to give the name, height, and age of a particular plant, and pictures would help a lot. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| This is a pic of my Weeks Roses, Home Run variety in its second season. These are 3 feet tall |
Here is a link that might be useful: Home Run roses
Pic of Knock Out
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| And this is a pic of my Knock Out, Rosa Radrazz roses. This plant is 3 1/2 feet tall and are in a shadier area. Also in its second season |
Here is a link that might be useful: Rosa Radrazz Knock Out rose
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| I guess I'd take about a foot off the Home Run canes after blooming. You want the remaining canes to be stout enough to support a couple of branches with flowers. Plants look good. The KOs do seem spindly from lack of light. Eventually they should make more canes from the base and fill in. KO doesn't need a great deal of sun. I would also trim these back a bit after blooming and cut out the twiggy stuff. The big cane with branches is awkward, but for the time being it is most of the plant, so I wouldn't prune it too hard. While plants are young, remove spent flowers and hips to encourage faster growth. And fertilize if you haven't done so. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| Thanks for the help. Kinda along the lines of what I thought. Last years pruning while completely ignorant of how to do so led to awkward appearance of the KO, hence this post. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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Well my new roses had a great start, then came the grasshoppers and the Texas afternoon sun. The grasshoppers took everything off 3 of my new rose plants and left 1 mostly unscathed.
I keep them well watered in the hopes that the root's will remain healthy and give me a good bloom next year. Is that a sensible approach or have these bushes had it?
I swear the only thing I'm going to plant in the future is Sage and Cacutus! |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| The mutilated plants should recover from the grasshopper plague and bloom from September into December. I don't know whether you'll have grasshoppers every July or not, but I doubt you'll have to wait until spring for more roses. Good luck and thanks for the update. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| For what it's worth, I have a couple New Dawn climbers I planted last year that were completely denuded of leaves this year at the end of May by rose slugs and they've almost completley recovered with leaves and were blooming again by mid/late July. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| So should I cut everything back to the primary canes on the damaged plants? There isnt much left above ground. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| I wouldn't prune them at all; it would just make them weaker. |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Sat, Aug 4, 12 at 12:09
| I would just leave them be for now. When it cools off a little they'll need all that cane to leaf back out and feed the plant. The one that's blooming you can cut for shape some when you dead head it but that's all I'd do. How are you liking your Home Run? I've found mine to be a really stellar plant and better than my Knock Out. It's always in bloom and has had NO black spot at all! |
RE: New to roses. How to prune?
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| I wouldn't prune anything in this heat--things are tough enough on the plants now. "Pruning" is confusing because much of it is personal taste or opinion. Some folks let their roses develop into the shrubs they are--esp. OGRs & many modern shrub types like KO.
Others like to hand-groom them to select for bigger or more blooms. Some people use chainsaws on them--no kidding. I like to have the plant in the ground for at least 2-3 years before any pruning beyond taking out dead canes. It just seems like they need some time to establish themselves before I go 'correcting' them. (but that's just my opinion:) |
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