How to Prune Roses and Flowering Shrubs
February 8, 2010 by admin
Filed under Flower, Gardening Tips
Roses are perhaps the most popular kind of flower for gardeners with moderate to master-level skills. For beginning gardeners they can be an intimidating plant to work with. They are rumored to be hard to grow and very temperamental. While that is true with some older, traditional varieties, many of the roses available today are easy to grow and maintain, so don’t be afraid to give them a try.
One of the most essential aspects of maintaining healthy rose plants is to prune them properly. To become proficient at it takes some time, but even beginners will help their bushes grow larger quantity and better quality blooms with pruning. Here’s why:
• Pruning removes dead wood that will never produce blooms, but will soak up nutrients.
• Pruning encourages new, healthy growth.
• Pruning improves the aeration of the plant. Allowing for oxygen reception is a critical part of aiding healthy new growth in your rose plants.
• Pruning will help you shape the rose bush just the way you want it to look.
Just a few tools are needed to get the job done:
• A thick, long pair of gloves – remember, roses have thorns!
• A pair of long-handled loppers for hard to reach blooms.
• A pair of by-pass pruners for blooms close at hand.
To prune your roses and other flowering bushes, learn to employ these simple practices. First, use tools that are sharp, to avoid tearing the plant material. Clean cuts foster the healthiest new growth.
Secondly, open up the center of the plant with the most aggressive pruning. This allows better air flow and sunlight reaching all of the rose’s stems, which will produce a more robust growth pattern throughout the plant.
Thirdly, makes your cuts at a 45 degree angle, and select a spot about ¼ inches above a bud that is facing toward the outside of the plant.
Fourthly, cut the stems at varying lengths, from 12 to 24 inches, to produce a fuller plant, and one in which multiple blooms are not opening at the same height, competing for the life-giving rays of the sun.
The fifth step is to remove all dead or dying material from the plant. If it was healthy material, add it to your compost pile. If any signs of disease or insect infestation were present, bag it and dispose of it, or burn it if that is an acceptable practice in your area.
The last step is to remove all but the hardiest of stalks. Thin, twiggy, weak canes should be removed to keep them from drawing up nutrients that will only result in poor blooms at best. Sucker growth should be removed for the same reason.
The best time to prune your roses and flowering bushes is in the spring, as soon as the first signs of growth begin to appear on the rose bush. Some seasoned gardeners like to have a forsythia bush in their landscape, and use it’s blooming as a signal to start pruning. That practice is centuries old, so has a proven track record. If forsythia is not present, look for the leaf buds to begin to swell. When the bumps on the cane take on a reddish hue and begin to expand, the time is right for some growth-inspiring pruning of your dearly loved roses and flowering bushes!
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