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calliebird_gw

Rose Pruning?

calliebird
9 years ago

Hello everyone!
So one of my favorite rose bushes, Oranges 'n' Lemons, appears to have a really bad case of rose canker. The cane is dying all the way to the base, and I don't know what to do. I've tried to spray it with fungicides, I've tried pruning it back, but at this point I'm out of ideas. Right now though, it seems to have new growth, and I'm hesitant to try cutting it again. Not only that, but there is only one cane growing from the ground to which all the others are connected...

My question is, would it kill my rose bush if I cut it back to the ground? I really want it to be rid of this sickness...

Thank you!

Comments (8)

  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    Do you have a photo? Maybe someone can help with where to cut

  • calliebird
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I don't have a photo, the bush is overall too tall to fit into the picture. However the canker is taking over the newgrowth, and it has already attacked the only cane it is all growing from. The canker reaches all the way to the ground. I'm simply asking if I cut off all of the foliage all the way to the ground if it will kill the plant? I can't make it grow more new canes from the ground...

  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    Can you take a picture just of the part you are concerned with? Is the bush grafted? Graft buried or above ground?

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    I agree with Kippy, we need a picture of the problem to give better advice.

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    It would be really rare for ordinary canker to kill all the canes on a rose, although there are a few varieties that are unusually susceptible. Has anyone else noticed a lot of canker on 'Oranges 'n Lemons'? Also, ordinary cankers do not usually spread much during warm weather. If I prune out cankers in April, I usually do not notice further trouble until the following spring.

    Dieback can also be caused by verticillium wilt and bacterial blight of rose. These would need to be diagnosed in a pathology lab, maybe via your county agent.

    If you cut the plant down to the ground, but not below any graft, it will probably make new basal shoots. If not, it was probably going to die anyway of whatever this is. (Be sure it is not a "tree rose" grafted on a trunk.)

  • calliebird
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Alright, I will try to get a picture posted of both the canker at the base and at the new growth.

    About whether or not it was grafted, I'm not actually sure because we inherited the rose bush with the house... we got the house about... 14 years ago, and I've only just recently started taking care of the rose bush about 2 or 3 years ago. Its really pretty when it blooms, and it surprises me that if has survived for 11 or 12 years without care that it would die of something now. It is, however identified as Oranges 'n' Lemons, and I know this because I show this rose at local rose shows (and they have to be certified and named correctly).

    Also, if its not canker that is killing it, then I don't know what it is. I've sprayed it with GreenCure (super great antifungal stuff) and it just keeps spreading... One of the canes is actually broken (either from whatever is attacking it or because I put a towel on it when it hailed). I will get a picture uploaded shortly.

  • calliebird
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Alright, I will try to get a picture posted of both the canker at the base and at the new growth.

    About whether or not it was grafted, I'm not actually sure because we inherited the rose bush with the house... we got the house about... 14 years ago, and I've only just recently started taking care of the rose bush about 2 or 3 years ago. Its really pretty when it blooms, and it surprises me that if has survived for 11 or 12 years without care that it would die of something now. It is, however identified as Oranges 'n' Lemons, and I know this because I show this rose at local rose shows (and they have to be certified and named correctly).

    Also, if its not canker that is killing it, then I don't know what it is. I've sprayed it with GreenCure (super great antifungal stuff) and it just keeps spreading... One of the canes is actually broken (either from whatever is attacking it or because I put a towel on it when it hailed). I will get a picture uploaded shortly.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Oh, sorry about the broken cane. Do cut that off so it has a clean cut. The ragged end of the break provides a good spot for bad things to happen. Also, you don't need to cover it when it hails. The rose will actually do better without cover as the ice will simply roll off the leaves to the ground. When you covered it you provided a place for the ice to collect and build up weight and that's what probably broke the cane.

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