WHY AND HOW TO PRUNE YOUR ROSES.
Rose pruning is a seasonal job that must be done for the health of your roses. You must prune your roses if you want them to thrive and be lovely. When you decide to prune, no matter what type of rose you are growing, you are making certain that you have healthy roses. Even if you don't follow the exact directions, rose pruning will make your roses grow better.
Rose pruning stimulates your roses growth and gives your roses exposure to light and air. If old roses are not pruned their nutrients will be blocked off, causing the roses to not grow and bloom as much as they could.
Bugs and diseases find roses a great warm place to winter over in, pruning takes away most of your problems. By removing dead wood you are making more room for your healthier roses to grow. When you have roses that are thin stemmed and weak, rose pruning will make them stronger. If the smaller stems are not pruned they will in time seed and become dormant. Sadly your roses will become smaller.
Early each spring rose gardeners take out their pruning shears and pull on their gardening gloves and prune their roses for the coming bloom. You need a good sharp pair of pruning shears and a good thick pair of gloves. If you live in a country that has a mild climate you can prune in late fall as soon as the plants go dormant.
To determine if the wood is alive or dead, make a small cut on one of the stems, if the wood is alive it will be white. Cut out any branches that cross and rub, this will help prevent your rose plant from getting unnecessary diseases and give your plant a more appealing shape.
Make all rose pruning cuts just above the buds, this is where new shoots will grow so don't remove the buds. Choose buds that face outwards, this will let light into the middle of the plant.
Angle the shears so they are at a 45 degree angle and pointing to the middle of the bush, make the cut 1/4 inch above the bud, back 3 to 5 leaf branches downwards from top of bloom. This cut will be off the main branch. Cut the leaf set or stem that is facing the outward direction. This will be the high side of a cut, on the side the leaf set is on.
The optimum leaf set removal for the first years trimming is a 3 bunch, but 5 are ok too. The goal is to remove as little as possible for the first years season. You want to remove or reduce parts of the plant that are not necessary, and which will increase air circulation and sun distribution, thus improving the health, beauty and bloom of the plant.
Remove suckers and rootstock coming from the ground, put all pruning debri in your rubbish bin, not in your compost heap. Consider sealing large cuts with white wood glue.
Deadheading It is important to pick off all the dead flowers from your rose bushes 3 to 4 weeks before the end of the growing season, this encourages new flower growth next season. By carefully deadheading as part of your rose pruning routine you will have great looking roses.
Using the deadhead method is typical for the new genetically engineered breed of roses.
Older rose varieties at the end of their season form rose hips or seeds that need to be left on, as they need these to help them grow next season, so prune carefully. Wild roses are left alone most of the time for the look of the wilderness.
In Summary, rose pruning allows a way for roses to become stronger and be more vital. By cutting down the old growth, you are allowing room for the roses to grow and be more healthy.
