When Is the Correct Time of Year to Prune Roses?
Pruning roses opens the interior, improves appearance, and increases growth and blooms. An open vase-like shape increases light and air movement, which increases blooms and decreases disease. The timing and the method varies dependent upon the zone and type of rose. Very early spring is the best time to prune the bushes. An exception is the climbing rose. Climbing roses bloom on old growth, so they need pruning after blooming. Does this Spark an idea?
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Benefits
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Removing wood from a rose bush stimulates it to grow replacement wood. The bush has more energy and redirects it to forming new sprouts. Old canes only produce for a few years and must be removed when no longer productive. The rose's interior can become tangled with skinny, inappropriate growth limiting airflow in the center. It also means the rose is expending precious energy on nonproductive parts. Early spring pruning provides an open interior and allows the sun to penetrate all parts of the plant, so it gathers energy.
When to Prune
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In areas with severe freezes, remove the large canes on roses in fall. Doing so prevents the canes from blowing over or snapping in the winter weather, which could introduce disease. Perform final detail pruning in the spring. In all other areas and especially temperate zones, pruning is best done in very early spring before bud break. This may be March or April. In the Pacific Northwest, it is in February due to the mild winters. Do it before buds form but not so soon that there may be another freeze that damages the new growth that pruning stimulates.
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How to Prune
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Pruning should always be done with the proper tools. For most roses, hand pruners are sufficient, but large canes may require loppers and climbing roses with pole pruners. The implement needs to be sharp and clean. Use a 10 percent bleach-and-water solution to sanitize the tools between cuts and prevent spreading any disease or mildew spores. Cuts are made just above a bud node at a 45-degree angle that deflects water away from the bud. This prevents it from rotting before it bursts forth. The wood at the cut needs to be white not brown. If it is brown, cut farther down until to clean, white wood.
Methods
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Begin by cutting out crossed branches, dead wood, diseased stems and suckers. Do this when the forsythia are starting blooming in spring. Remove a third of the old canes. Leave a third of the newest canes and then remove the rest. The total number of canes remaining is nine to 12. Then cut back the individual canes to 12 to 24 inches. Cut them just above an outward-facing bud, which ensures that new growth aims out and away so the plant doesn't become tangled again.
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References
- Photo Credit red rose bush image by green308 from Fotolia.com
