Notes on rose pruning

Ruapehu Bulletin, 13 August 1991, Page 16

Notes on rose pruning

by

Bea

Barnes

I have had several requests recently to jot down a few notes on rose pruning in this area and the best time to tackle this task. Given suitable weather conditions I would say now is a suitable. time, when the bushes are showing new shoots. But if the weather continues as it has with icy rain, hail and snowy conditions even a week or two later will be soon enough. Perhaps a word here as to why we prune. Firstly to clear away diseased, dying, or dead wood and to open up the bushes to the sun and air. Secondly to trim the bushes to a good shape and, thirdly, to encourage the bushes to send up good strong flowering shoots for the coming season. Faced with a tangled mass of last year's growth the job may look a little daunting but there really is nothing too difficult about it. Begin by removing all the dead and spindly growth leaving only firm healthy branches to produce new shoots. If any 'die black' is showing on the remaining branches this should be cut back to healthy wood. The centre pith in healthy wood should be firm and creamy in colour, but if the pith shows any trace of brownish marks in it this is already infected by the rot and will need to be cut out at a lower level. Clearing way all the unwanted and spindly growth will go a long way to opening up the centre of the bush, but if the centre still appears too crowded or has canes closely crossing one another remove sufficient canes to allow those remaining room to grow and flower. All canes so removed must

be cut off close to the base of the plant, the cuts being sealed with pruning paste or petroleum jelly to prevent moisture getting into the open wound and causing disease. Finally prune the bushes to a good shape by reducing the remaining canes to an even height about four or five buds up from the base of the plant, choosing a bud facing outwards from the centre of the bus. The word "bud" in this sense means the emerging leaf bud or the tiny pimple like growth on the stem which will eventually merge as a new shoot. The cuts should be made not more than a quarter of an inch above the selected bud gentlv sloping away so , moisture will drain away J from the embryo shoot. I Ideally three or fourl main canes should be left to grow on each bush but on more stablised bushes more can be left to grow providing they have ample space. Although it is a generally accepted rule to always prune to an outside bud, roses which have a naturally sprawling habit such as Josephine Bruce or Kronenburg can be pruned to an inside bud where it is desirable to contain the growth of the bush. Standard roses can be pruned in a similar fashion taking care to achieve a good even shape of healthy growth. Climbers and ramblers are usually pruned at the end of each flowering season. Ramblers do not generally require a lot of pruning apart from the removal of diseased or dead wood but every two or three years it is ad-

visable to remove very old or damaged wood to allow fresh new canes to grow. Climbers should have the main leaders shortened back to about a third of their length and the bushes cleaned of unhealthy growth. Where there are more than three or four main

stems remove at least one right down to the base of the plant each season to encourage new growth. At pruning time check that the ties fastening the leaders to their supports have not become broken or too tight around the stem and replace as necessary.