When Do You Fertilize & Cut Back Roses?
Roses are traditional favorites in home flower gardens, and can become quite large and live for many years with the right care. Roses are high-maintenance plants, however, and require strict schedules for planting soil, water, fertilizer and pruning. Prune and feed your rose at the right time to encourage new, continuous blooms and healthy growth. Does this Spark an idea?
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Planting Soil
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Roses need soil that drains quickly, gives their roots room for growth and retains moisture for long-term use. These are acid-loving plants that also require rich organic matter in their soil for nutrition and drainage. Mix 5 to 6 inches of organic compost into the top 12 inches of soil at planting, and add bone meal to encourage healthy growth and rooting.
Maintenance Fertilizer
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Roses do best with consistent fertilizer applications throughout their growing season. Give them new compost every spring, paired with a dose of rose-specific fertilizer. Feed roses again after every flush of flowers, to give them the resources they need for reblooming. If you have roses that don't rebloom, feed them every two months. Discontinue all feeding after July.
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Deadheading
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Keep rose plants tidy and encourage reblooming with in-season pruning. Cut flowers when they open for indoor arrangements, or leave roses to fade on the bush. Deadhead these roses, or pull them from the plant, before they go to seed. If you're cutting roses, make the cuts just above a stem that has five leaves to encourage new growth.
Fall Pruning
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All-America Rose Selections suggest a minor fall pruning for roses, to clean the plants up and ready them for winter. Wait until you've had two hard frosts, then cut diseased foliage and wasted blooms from the bush. Shorten all canes to 24 to 36 inches to keep them manageable through winter.
Winter Pruning
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Save hard rose pruning for late winter or early spring. Conduct this pruning before new growth starts, and before you feed your roses, to ensure pruning during rose dormancy. Cut the top 1/3 of each cane off to encourage new, orderly growth. Eliminate canes that grow crooked or across the center of the bush. Make each cut at a 45-degree angle, just above a growing bud.
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References
- Photo Credit yellow rose image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
