When Is It Time to Prune a Rose Bush?
The type of rose and time in the summer that it blooms determines when and what type of pruning it needs. Species and rugosa roses need very little pruning; they have long periods of bloom and finish with decorative rose hips. As roses were hybridized to increase size and number of blooms, plants required more help to maintain good shape and attractive bloom. Does this Spark an idea?
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Spring and Summer Deadheading
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Deadheading is the simplest type of pruning and is performed throughout the growing season. It not only removes unattractive faded flowers, it delays seed formation and removes decaying tissue that provides a foothold for viral and fungus diseases such as botrytis blight. Flower stems should be cut about 1/4 inch above an outward-facing five- or seven-leaf stem -- the new stem will grow in the direction of the leaf stem. Deadheading encourages re-blooming varieties to produce more blooms. Because it encourages growth, flowers should not be cut or deadheaded after October 1 to allow the plant to begin the transition to dormancy for the winter.
Early Spring Pruning
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Hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniatures and the new shrub roses, including Knock Out roses, bloom on wood grown in the current year and benefit from pruning in late winter or very early spring. Prune re-blooming old garden roses like Bourbons and hybrid perpetual and Portland roses in spring before they flower. Canes are cut back to 6 to 12 inches tall and branches growing into the center of the shrub are removed. Thin or dead canes must be removed and suckers growing from below the graft should be torn away. The number of canes are then reduced by one-third. Shrub roses should not be pruned their first few years as they establish themselves.
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Pruning After Bloom
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Old garden roses such as alba, Gallica, centifolia, damask and moss roses bloom in early summer on old wood. They need dead wood and suckers removed and any thinning completed after they flower to give the plant time to grow new wood. Old garden roses need only enough pruning to keep them tidy; re-bloomers should be scrupulously deadheaded to keep them growing. They can be pruned in late summer or late winter.
Ramblers and Climbers
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Ramblers grow along a fence or wall and send flowering canes up along their length and bloom once in spring. They should be pruned only to keep them in compact shape and to remove dead wood. Remove any canes that grow across other canes to avoid damage that could allow disease. Prune ramblers in early summer after they finish blooming. Climbers, on the other hand, are repeat bloomers and should be pruned in early spring when side shoots can be cut back to 6 inches to encourage flowering. Late bloomers tolerate pruning in autumn before hard freezes trigger dormancy.
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References
- Photo Credit buisson de roses image by pucci raf from Fotolia.com
