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andreark

Deadheading English Shrubs

andreark
10 years ago

When I deadhead my HTs, If possible, I take them down to a thicker stretch of cane. This has produced new growth from a larger cane. But does this work with DA types that have thinner and floppy canes. Will I ever be able to encourage new growth from thicker canes?

andrea

Comments (7)

  • dublinbay z6 (KS)
    10 years ago

    How long have Austins been growing in your garden? If less than 3 or 4 years, that is probably the source of your problem. I find that maturity has more of an impact on Austins than anything else.

    Maybe someone else can answer your question more directly. Since HTs grow very differently than Austins do, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they should be pruned differently also. But maybe I'm wrong on that.

    Kate

  • michaelg
    10 years ago

    If a plant is young and needs leaves to produce food and grow stronger, you can let it flop for a year or two. Or you can stake it up or self peg it. New growth will come above pruning cuts if vertical, ir at the top of the arch if arching. It takes a few years for shrub roses to get in shape, or maybe two California years.

  • andreark
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Michael,

    Do they ever have stiff canes or are they always floppy?
    And if you prune a skimpy cane back to a thicker part of the cane, will it (like an HT) put out new growth as thick as the place you pruned it to?

    Whew! Not sure that made sense!!!!

    thanks Michael and Kate,

    andrea

  • michaelg
    10 years ago

    They all get stiffer with maturity, perhaps not HT-stiff. Even the extant canes will get thicker and stiffer over time if you prop them up. Whether it is good to cut back floppy canes depends on how much reserve strength the plant has built up. Once it is established, it will take a lot of pruning. But young plants need their leaves

    You want to develop a framework that is branchy but self-supporting. Then some arching and drooping of the flowering shoots is desirable. That's what makes the plants more attractive than HT plants.

  • Kippy
    10 years ago

    Andrea, if you have a mental picture of what kind of bush shape you want, you might want to look at plants that fit that image.

    Austin Shrub roses will probably try for that leafy shrub shape and not HT. I think Austin has a few that are known for a more HT shape than others.

    One of those things, it is easier to achieve the look you want if you start out with a plant matches.

  • andreark
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Michael and Kippy.

    andrea

  • nanadollZ7 SWIdaho
    10 years ago

    I think size and age of the plant will solve a lot of your problems. Golden Celebration was very floppy the first couple of years for me, and now, though it sends out candelabra this time of year, does not flop at all. On the other hand, Young Lycidas, a year old, is a flopmeister, determined to bloom on the ends of its long thin canes. I have it tied up inside a circle of stakes, and it still lost some cane in the last windstorm. YL doesn't worry me because I've seen this happen a lot, and there has always been improvement with the flopsters. The shrubs that bother me most are like Evelyn with stiff, brittle canes that snap off at the base--causing loss of lots of basals, in spite of all the tying in the world. Princess Alexandra of Kent, also only a year old, is vastly improved in just a year. It's still putting out lots of candelabra, but they are thicker and more upright already. Diane