Prune

Why prune? Three basic reasons: (1) To encourage new plant growth; (2) To remove excess, spindly or dead wood; and (3) To improve air circulation and reduce disease.

Tools and supplies needed include: Thorn resistant gloves; a curved blade saw to get into places where clippers or loppers will not work; Felco or similar “Scissor” type pruners; lopping shears for extra large canes that may need removal and Elmer’s or similar white glue for sealing the canes to keep the cane borers out.

How to Prune.

Here you need to make a decision. Do you prefer large masses of bloom or fewer, larger blooms? I can recall a comment many years ago from Gene O’Leary, a Consulting Rosarian, a Horticultural Judge, and outstanding exhibitor. His comments went something like “the new cane on which the bloom will come will never be bigger than the cane from which it came.” Therefore, I have generally adopted a strategy of not being afraid to “fairly hard prune” modern type roses in the spring. The heavier the new cane the bigger the future bloom is likely to be.

Cut canes at a 45 degree angle about ¼” to ½” above an outward facing bud eye (that little lighter colored growth on the outside of the cane/stem). New canes should grow outward from the center of the bush to allow for better air circulation and to reduce fungus type diseases. Some pruning options are discussed below.


Hybrid Teas, grandifloras and similar roses:

Light. If the bush was not cut back last fall, just remove the upper one quarter or so from what the bush was last year. This will give you more blooms but on less sturdy canes. Moderate. Prune to 4 to 6 canes, 18” to 24” high. This will give you good general display in the garden with blooms of moderate size. Heavy. Prune to 3 or 4 canes (for many of us this may be the maximum number of canes that we have), to 12” to 18” high if you want a limited number of larger and showy blooms.


Miniatures:

Prune back to about one half to two thirds of their normal height for a good display of blooms. If you prefer exhibition type blooms, cut back to four to six inches.


Climbers:

Limit spring pruning to possibly removing some of the oldest and weakest canes and suckers. Retain four to five of the more vigorous canes. A recent recommendation that I received for climbers is to bend and tie the canes to the trellis so that they are in a semi-horizontal (about 60 to 70 degree angle from the ground) rather than in a vertical position. This will give you more blooms on climbers as the blooms come from the laterals growing out from the sides of each of the heavy canes.


Floribundas and shrubs:

Need very little pruning. Mostly cutting out dead canes or canes that cross over each other and trimming back enough to keep the bush within reasonable bounds.


Old Garden Roses:

Need very little pruning in the spring. Mostly thinning out of older and heavier canes and cutting back to keep in bounds – preferably in July after they have had their annual June bloom cycle for those that only bloom once each year. If OGR type roses are pruned back in the spring, you may lose part of the June bloom.

Protect and Feed

After Initial Spring Pruning

Seal cuts on canes of a pencil size or greater with Elmer’s white (may add food coloring if desired) glue to reduce potential cane borer damage. Also, do the same thing when cutting off blooms during the summer. Cane borers can cause severe damage or even kill some canes.


Apply a combination fungicide, insecticide and miticide spray to both the bushes and the surrounding soil areas after pruning or after the leaf bud eyes start showing. This will help reduce the carryover of disease and insect problems from the prior year.

Apply a granular type fertilizer (i.e.: 10-10-10) in early May when the soil has started to warm up. If it has been a dry spring, water the garden well before applying this fertilizer.

For more information, feel free to come to your society’s activities or garden demonstrations; look at the Ortho rose books at your local nurseries, hardware stores and library; and feel free to call your nearby helpful Consulting Rosarian.