Home › Preparation of Rose Beds › Preparation of Rose Beds: Roses

Preparation of Rose Beds: Roses

The Pruning Of Roses The correct pruning of roses is one of the essentials of success. In order to prune intelligently one should know the requirements of the different classes.

Hybrid Perpetuals, Hybrid Teas, and Teas should be pruned after their dormant season, shortly before the buds begin to break. The Hybrid Perpetuals are usually ready to start into growth several weeks before the Teas and Hybrid Teas and consequently should be pruned a little earlier in the spring. In the vicinity of Philadelphia the Hybrid Perpetuals should be pruned during the latter part of March and the Teas and Hybrid Teas during the early part of April.

The severity of the pruning depends largely upon one's desires. If one wishes a few blooms of superior quality with long stems for cutting, one must prune rigorously. If, on the other hand, one desires more abundant blooms, though of somewhat poorer size and quality, one may prune less severely. This can be readily understood when one realizes that a limited amount of sap is available within the plant and must supply all portions with nourishment. If, therefore, a bush produces a dozen blooms instead of concentrating all its energies upon four or five, size and quality must necessarily be sacrificed. As a general rule most rose-growers prefer quality to quantity and prune accordingly. Hybrid Perpetuals and some of the more vigorous of the Hybrid Teas, such as La France, should be pruned back to five or six buds on the strongest canes and to three or four buds on the weaker canes. Teas and the more delicate of the Hybrid Teas should be pruned back to three or four buds on the more vigorous canes and to two or three buds on the weaker shoots. When pruning, make a clean, slightly slanting cut one-fourth to one-half inch above a bud. Cut usually to an outside bud. The symmetry of the bush may be maintained by cutting back to either an inside or an outside bud, but it is usually wiser to direct the growth outward. Remove all dead and winterkilled wood when pruning.

Roses of the Rugosa and Austrian Brier classes require practically no pruning except the removal of dead and crowding wood.

Pruning Climbing Roses. Climbing roses should be pruned late in July or during the early part of August, after their period of bloom is over. Some of the oldest canes should be removed entirely in order to give the young, vigorous shoots a better chance to develop. The greatest number of flowers are produced on this fresh, new wood and therefore the more encouragement this young growth has, the more luxuriant will be the blooms the following season. So many climbing and rambler roses are allowed to go their own sweet way in the early years of their existence that before one realizes it they have got beyond bounds entirely and have become rampant, unwieldy tangles, with a large quantity of old, nonproductive wood, and with much of their bloom and beauty lost. A little wise pruning each season and an occasional application of fertilizer or manure are all that is necessary to maintain the beauty and vigor of a climbing rose. In addition to the cutting out of some of the older growth, some of the long, unwieldy branches should be cut back quite severely in order to encourage the development of side shoots and to make the training easier.