Pruning roses is a must. If you wish to grow roses, you are going to have to prune them. People tend to think pruning roses is difficult. Actually, it is quite straightforward. The results can be incredible. Roses are actually very tough plants, so much so, if you make every pruning mistake in the book, your roses are going to be better off than if you had not pruned them at all.
Roses must be pruned for a variety of reasons. The key reasons have to do with keeping the plant healthy, maintaining the plants beauty and attempting to keep the plant from getting out of bounds, which can come about within a fairly short period of time, especially the taller varieties.
Proper pruning practices present you with huge stunning flowers atop strong, tall stems, excellent for cut flowers. A good general rule of thumb is the further back you cut a rose bush, the lesser number of, but bigger flowers you are certain to get, and they are going to be on taller, tougher stems. Prune less, and you acquire smaller flowers yet more of them.
Pruning eliminates diseased or damaged parts of the plant. It also keeps the plant more open in the center, increasing air circulation and decreasing pest problems.
If pruning fails to occur, a large number of rose plants grow to large and monstrous. They can truly take over and swallow up any smaller plants in its path. Pruning keeps them exactly where they should be.
And so, when is the best time to prune you ask. Well, when the weather is suitable and you have the time. It is best to do it yearly and during the proper season. Just before growth begins in late winter or early spring, precise timing will depend on your geographical area and your environment. This is the best season for the major pruning. If you do the main pruning and do it properly, then you should not have a lot to do during the rest of the season beyond cutting the spent roses off and making the most of the spectacular beauty of the rose.
Where winter temperatures are 10 degrees or lower, you need to delay to prune until after the coldest weather has passed and any winter damage to the plant has transpired. March or April are usually the best time to prune for most of us.
In pruning a rose plant, eliminate all dead or damaged canes, these will be the dark brown or grey colored canes, the shriveled looking and small scraggly looking twigs. Get rid of suckers, strong canes will arise from the rootstock below the bud union. You will need to dig all-around at the base of the plant to entirely reveal the bottom of a sucker. Cut it even to the rootstock. Leave the center area of the rose bush as open as possible for circulation purposes. The plant should be sort of cup-shaped with flowering canes around the outside.
Once you have completed all the removal pruning, at this time you need to carefully consider what you would like to save. The goal is to save the healthiest canes, these are the flowering canes that bloom in spring. The healthiest canes are the thicker and generally the bright green color. The quantity of flowering canes you choose depends on the vigor and age of the plant. Having newly planted roses, leave about three to five flowering canes. Older plants can support more. Cut the flowering canes back by approximately a third to a half.
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