When to Trim a Rose Bush?
Of all gardening tasks, trimming-or pruning a rose seems to cause the most anxiety. The idea of cutting off what appears to be perfectly healthy branches doesn't make sense, unless you understand the purpose for pruning. Like trimming hair, pruning helps to shape a rose, remove diseased and dead stems and encourages growth. Even if you make a mistake while pruning don't worry; roses are hardy plants and will recover. There are different types of pruning -- hard, deadheading or light -- and which is used depends upon the time of year. Does this Spark an idea?
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Definitions
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The different terms for trimming roses depend upon their purpose. "Dead-heading" refers to removing faded blossoms from the rose bush. In some cases, part of the stem is also removed. Pruning -- both hard and light -- are used to shape the bush and remove diseased, old or dead branches. This promotes the health of the bush and increases flower production. In warmer climates, where roses do not go dormant, pruning slows down the plant growth, allows the bush to rest and promotes new growth from the bud union.
Early Spring
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Early spring -- after the last frost date -- is the standard time for hard pruning roses, but when that time occurs varies with location. An old rule of thumb is to prune roses when the forsythia blooms, according to Oregon State University Extension horticulturist Jan McNeilan.
For areas with weather similar to Atlanta, Georgia, or Washington, D.C., that is early March. For Boston, Massachusetts, and Seattle, Washington, that is early April. Roses in Dallas, Texas, are pruned in late March, as are roses in St. Louis, Missouri. Roses are pruned in January in Los Angeles, California. Sometimes a sudden late frost occurs after a rose is pruned. If the pruned rose suffers, another pruning will remove the damaged branches.
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Daily
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Faded flowers are trimmed or dead-headed throughout the blooming season. For repeat bloomers, this involves not only removing the faded blossom, but also cutting the flower stems back to where an outward-facing swelling or "bud" is forming above a set of five or seven leaves. However, if the plant is less than a few seasons old or is young or weak, remove only the faded blossom and a smaller amount of stem. For single-blooming roses or bushes where the rose hips are part of the plant's display, deadhead only the faded blossom. Roses need time to harden off before winter; stop deadheading roses after the first of October.
Fall
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Roses are pruned again in the fall; early September is a good time for this light pruning, according to Texas A&M Horticulture. This pruning involves a trimming of any branches that look leggy or did not produce blooms. Branches that cross other branches, branches that cross over the center of the brush and dead branches are also removed. Prune these branches back to the main rose canes or to the bud union.
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- Photo Credit Carpet of roses image by louloua asgaraly from Fotolia.com
