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| Rose pruning tips from a local expert |
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 | | File photo | | Local master gardener, John 'Norm' Say |
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Organized and written for your pleasure by Norm Say, M.G.
So you want to prune your roses but are afraid you will ruin them because you are not sure what to do? Then let me assure you in the first paragraph that unless you cut the bush just above the roots, you will do more good to the plant by pruning than not pruning at all.
If you talk to a hundred rose fanciers you will likely get a hundred different suggestions on proper rose pruning. Do not be in a hurry to prune here in our area. Waiting until near mid-May is soon enough even though you will see lots of growth on the canes. There will be plenty of time for your rose to grow and produce beautiful blooms.
To understand the basics it is important to understand the difference between various types of roses. There are thousands of books, booklets, pamphlets, articles and handouts on the care of roses. The material explains how to select, plant, fertilize, seasonal care, insect and fungal control, soil amendments, and pruning requirements. Let's make the pruning requirements simple. Here we go.
TYPES: ( Excerpted from "Rose Planting & Care", Oregon State University Extension Service, Amy Jo Waldo-Will, Horticulture Agent.)
Climbing roses: Stiff stems with medium-large flowers borne on framework of mature wood which is more or less permanent and not cut back. Most bloom throughout the summer. Climbing roses do not get cut back like other roses. After they have leafed out in spring, cut off only the dead portions.
Floribunda roses: Flowers are generally smaller than those on grandiflora and hybrid tea roses. Clusters of blooms on short stems give the effect of masses of color and grow to approximately 3 feet in height.
Grandiflora roses: Flowers are similar to those of hybrid teas and are equally valuable for cutting. Flowers are on long stems often borne in clusters and often scented. They are usually taller than hybrid teas anywhere from 3-6' in height. Often sold and used interchangeably with hybrid teas.
Hybrid Tea roses: These are long-stemmed, often fragrant roses excellent for cutting. This is what we most often think of when we hear the word rose, the ones used by florist. Reach a height of 3-5'.
Miniature roses: Smaller version of the other types of roses anywhere from 8" up to 2'. Bloom prolifically all summer. Generally more hardy than floribunda, grandiflora, and hybrid tea roses.
Shrub roses/Rugosa: Often referred to as "hardy" shrub roses. These plants are cared for like a typical shrub, e.g., spirea. Not high maintenance like the others. Good choice for a high desert area.
With those brief explanations of the types of roses, let's get to the PRUNING lesson. A considerable amount of this material is excerpted from a pamphlet released by the Portland Rose Society, author unknown, and my own comments on pruning.
The majority of the next several paragraphs refer mainly to hybrid tea roses, although where there is a difference it will be noted.
Be prepared. Wear tight fitting leather gloves. Also wear a long sleeved shirt, not a sweater. Have a sharp pair of by-pass pruners, a lopper and a pruning saw. Gardeners tend to use the new "ARS" type of folding saws. They are easily carried in the back pocket and fit into tight spaces between canes.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, unless you cut the plant off down to the roots, you will find that roses really like to be pruned. Different results can be expected by how much plant tissue is removed.
Understand with roses, the same as trees, have a potential growth to reach a certain height and shape. If a hybrid tea has a mature height expectancy of 3 feet, you can cut the canes back to three or four buds (about 4-5 inches from the bud union).
This is the point of origin of the canes and is usually obvious by the swelling or bulging area above the root graft. The reaction results in a very long stem because the plant is trying to reach its potential height. Also, if you reduce the number of canes to three or four, not only will you obtain long stems, but larger blooms.
Remember a total lack of pruning is worse for the bush than any amount of over pruning you do. Unless you cut the rose off below the ground line, it will survive and bloom.
Watch for part II in the next Lifestyles page
As with other plant pruning, first look closely at the rose bush. The first part of the examination should be directed toward the lower part of the bush, the area from which the canes originate. The purpose of pruning is to remove all weak growth, leaving only strong, healthy canes which can adequately support the growth expected during the upcoming summer. When the pruning is done properly, most of the uppermost parts of the bush will be removed. This pruning concept holds true for hybrid tea, floribunda and miniature roses. Climbers and old garden roses are pruned a little differently.
Study the bottom of the bush, identify the youngest and strongest canes. These can be identified by their color, texture and size. Young canes, one or two years old, are usually green in color and have a relatively smooth outer surface. As a cane ages it will usually become darker or grey-brown in color. Aging canes also become rough in texture due to the cracking and peeling of the outer bark. In hybrid teas these older canes are generally not very productive and should be entirely removed by cutting them off at the bud union using loppers or a pruning saw. You can recognize these non-productive older canes by examining last year's growth emanating from it. If all of the growth was small and twiggy, it is a good sign that this is a cane that should be removed because it is no longer capable of supporting vigorous new growth. An older cane that has large healthy looking secondary canes coming from it is usually still productive and should be saved. Stumps of canes left protruding from the bud union after pruning are unattractive and provide ideal places and conditions for infective organisms to live.
REMOVE ROOTSTOCK SUCKERS
Cut or tear them out. Suckers are canes that arise from any portion below the graft union.(It looks like a bulge at the base). If the cane originates from the roots, dig down to where it meets the parent root. Twist and pull (yank, actually) it off. If you simply cut a sucker off at ground level, you will get twice as many growing at the same place next year.
Next, remove any of the younger canes which cross the middle of the bush. Either remove them entirely to the bud union or to the major cane where they originated. Growth from crossing canes will become intertwined, with the result being few quality flowers. Then remove canes which are crowded close to each other, generally leaving the larger one of each crowded pair. Finally, if there is any twiggy growth remaining anywhere on the bush, remove it back to its point of origin. Prune out canes that are TOO SKINNY, cutting them off where they meet the graft union. One recommendation is to take out canes that are smaller than a pencil.
FINALLY, shorten the canes which remain. How much? One rule of thumb is to cut no shorter than half a cane's original height. I recommend to prune most teas to about one to two feet (12" to 18") in our climate. The thinner the cane, the shorter it is pruned. The fatter the cane, the higher you cut.
CUT TO AN OUT FACING BUD, generally speaking. In the late winter/early spring these are easier to spot as they begin to plump up. They are about the size of pencil tips. Some books call them eyes, since they look like eyes. Very small eyes. One is apt to find gardeners out in the rose beds this time of year, one hand down, practically standing on their heads, peering at the canes, their faces perilously close to thorns. They are trying to locate the optimum buds. As you prune, the height of some canes will be a little too high or too low. It's a balancing act. Sometimes the buds are a bit to one side or another. It is even okay to have a few that fill in the inside.
When you cut, the bud just below will be stimulated into growing out. It grows out the same way the bud is facing. You can anticipate how your rose bush will look, by imagining the shoots growing out. If two little shoots grow out from the bud, snap out one with your fingers.
When pruning is finished, the ideal rose bush will have only sturdy, healthy canes radiating from the bud union. This may not always be achievable, but it is the targeted result. If the bush has only 2, 3, or 4 canes, it would be best to let all of them remain. If there are 5 to 7 canes, you can make a decision which to remove to obtain a balanced appearance. Also, remove any old leaves still clinging to the rose plant because leaves which have over-wintered will often be disease carriers. The leaves should come off easily with a slight pull. Finally, spray the newly pruned bushes with a fungicide such as Funginex, Daconil, etc. DO NOT APPLY ANY DORMANT SPRAYS AT THIS TIME.
Briefly, there are three recognized height levels for pruning. The first is "hard pruning". The canes are cut back to a length such that there are only three or four buds on each of three to five canes. The result is you will have very sturdy canes about 5 inches long. This technique is often used by exibitors to promote the growth of exhibition quality blooms. New canes that grow from old canes can be no larger than canes from which they originate. The larger the flowering cane, usually the larger the flower that it can and will produce.
The second category is "moderate pruning". The canes are cut back to about 12-18 inches. Weaker than average canes should be reduced by more than this amount. This is the recommended pruning style for most hybrid teas and floribundas in home gardens. This method of pruning will result in a bush which will produce more but often slightly smaller flowers than if it was "hard pruned".
The third category is "light pruning". The canes are cut back so that about two-thirds of their length still remains. Light pruning is not generally recommended because if often leads to tall, spindly bushes. These bushes will bear blooms earlier in the year but the blooms will often be of poor quality and without stems suitable for cutting. Peace roses and their descendants seem to perform better if given a light pruning. It is still wise to remove all the little twiggy growth.
When pruning time approaches, there is already a lot of leafy growth and this is very difficult for many novice rose growers, and others, to remove during the pruning process. This growth will be small in diameter and much of it may be broken off by the spring rains or by weight of developing flowers. So, do not be afraid that you will over prune. It is almost always true that pruning too hard will produce better results than pruning too little.
CLIMBERS are pruned differently. If a climber is trained into a horizontal position, the only pruning that should be done in the spring is to prune the laterals, the short upright shoots coming from the main canes. They should be removed so that only two or three bud eyes remain, which is about 2 to 4 inches. You can remove the laterals entirely which will force the rose to produce new laterals from dormant eyes in the main canes.
MINIATURES are pruned in much the same way as tea roses, just on a smaller scale. Leave healthy canes 4 to 8 inches long and remove all the twiggy growth. They will respond very well.
THE "OLD" ROSE varieties and ONE TIME BLOOMERS, should be only lightly pruned to shape, control their size and to remove old unproductive wood. More pruning can be done but they flower on old wood. Save any major pruning until after they have bloomed so you can enjoy their beauty this season.
PRUNING CUTS: Cut the old canes to be entirely removed back to the bud union with either a saw or loppers. To cut the canes back to healthy wood as the result of freezing, disease, or breakage, select an outward growing bud and cut one-quarter inch above the bud with the cut slanting down at about a 45 degree angle away from the bud. Either remove inward (toward the center of the bush) growing buds with small pruners or use your fingers to pinch or remove the bud.
Don't leave a stub any longer than one-quarter inch above a bud. When cutting a stem , remove it back to at least the first five-leafed lateral, but even better to the second five-leafed lateral if existing on the stem.
DEAD HEADING
Once the rose starts blooming, it is common to "deadhead" throughout the rest of the summer season. This means that every few weeks, you prune off the dead (spent) flowers before they turn into seeds (rose hips). This causes the shrub to continue to produce. "Really-you are preventing the bush from having babies. And so she has to keep putting on that fancy red dress to go out and try again. Poor girl!" (Cass Turnbull)
The general rule is to cut to a lower set of leaves with a bud in the axil facing out. We are always told to cut to a set of "five" leaves rather than to the other three leaf kind. The "fiver" produces flowers, not so consistently the other kind. (Same as above)
IN SUMMARY, DON'T BE AFRAID OF PRUNING ROSES. Remove crossing branches, cut back to strong, young canes, remove twiggy growth, and select the height and desired effects as to the category of pruning. Spray or treat for fungi and aphids problems, fertilize with a high phosphate fertilizer every few weeks during the growing and blooming season, and stop any nitrogen fertilization in August to prevent a flush of new growth prior to winter. Don't be in a rush to start pruning in the Spring. Wait until at least May.
Whatever you do, have FUN.
Some diagrams and general comments were extracted from a Plant Amnesty article, "Pruning Tips: Hybrid Tea Rose Pruning." Author, Cass Turnbull, date unknown.
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