Pruning is essential for your roses' health and vigor. Pruning is necessary to shape the plant, remove dead and diseased wood, increase air circulation and spur new growth. And pruned roses produce larger, stronger canes and flowers. You'll need lopping shears, bypass hand pruners and a pruning saw to handle the job. Keep your tools sharp and well oiled to prevent rust. You can sharpen loppers and hand pruners with a small metal file. First, secure the shears in a vise or on a flat surface so that the blade faces up. Place the file at the same angle as the blade. Pull the file across the blade in one direction: never run the file back and forth across the blade. To lubricate your tools, spray a light coating of oil around all moving parts. Work the oil in by moving the blades back and forth a few times. Wipe off the excess, making sure to coat the blades. The proper time for spring pruning varies according to your climate. Rosarians generally recommend pruning a few weeks before the last frost and before significant new growth has taken place. If you'd like further guidance, contact the American Rose Society (see Resources, below), which can help you locate a consulting rosarian (CR) in your area. CRs give free advice on all aspects of growing and caring for roses. Begin pruning by removing dead, diseased or injured wood. Dead wood has dark-brown bark; living wood is green. If you're not sure whether a branch is dead, clip a small piece from the end of the branch: dead wood is brown inside; living tissue is white, cream or light tan. Next, cut out any branches and stems that cross through the center of the plant to improve air circulation. Finally, prune for shape. You should cut to an outward-facing bud so that the new branch doesn't grow into the center of the plant. Hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas should be pruned much more severely than shrubs or old roses. Because the former are more disease-prone, it's important to prune them in a way that opens the center of the plant, permitting sunlight to reach the foliage and encouraging the free flow of air. Cut them back to five or six healthy canes. When pruning shrubs and most antique roses, let the plant's natural shape guide the job. You don't need to cut these roses back severely, and you may be able to prune every two years instead of annually. Once-blooming roses should be pruned after they bloom -- otherwise you'll be removing flowering wood. Hedge roses may be cut to a height of about 2', hybrid teas to 18" or less. To encourage the development of larger flowers on hybrid teas, disbud the new branches along a main stem, leaving only the terminal (top) growth bud. Prune miniature roses back to about half their end-of-season size. After you have finished pruning -- if the roses are still dormant -- apply a dormant-oil spray to smother any overwintering insects and help kill fungi. Late in fall, stop harvesting flowers so that seed production will signal the plant to get ready for winter.
RESOURCES :
American Rose Society
PO Box 30,000
Shreveport, LA 71130-0030
318-938-5402
318-938-5405 (fax)
ars@ars-hq.org
http://www.ars.org
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