Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
- sharp bypass pruners
- long handled pruners (loppers)
- a pair of heavy gloves
- rubbing alcohol
- a long sleeved shirt
Step1
Old wood roses are very easy to grow and prune. They just require pruning in a little different manner than your new wood, or standard, rose bushes. New wood roses bloom on wood produced in the current growing season. These roses are cut back in the late winter or early spring in order to promote new growth. Old wood roses bloom on wood grown the previous season and have to be pruned in a little different manner in order to promote blooming.
Step2
Do you have an old wood rose?
Most old garden or antique roses are old wood roses and need to be treated as such. If you are unsure, prune the rose in the spring. If it fails to produce flowers that year, then you know that the rose is an old wood rose.
Step3
45-degree cut
Old wood roses need to be pruned in a manner in which ensures OLD wood for the season's blooms. The best way to ensure this is to do all of your pruning as soon as the rose is finished flowering. This gives the bush time to put out growth this season for next season's blooms. Old wood roses are usually slow growers and do not require intense pruning, but all pruning needs to be done as soon as the flowering season is complete. Be sure to cut at a 45-degree angle 1/4 inch above an outward facing leaflet in order to direct the new growth away from the center of the plant.
Step4
The black marks idicate extensive pruning.
If your old wood rose needs expensive pruning, follow the steps in HOW TO PRUNE ROSES, just perform these steps at the end of the blooming season rather than in the spring.
The Home Depot Gardening 1-2-3