Pruning roses is a must. If you want to grow roses, you definitely will have to prune them. People tend to think pruning roses is challenging. Actually, it is quite simple. The results can be incredible. Roses in fact very tough plants, so much so, that if you make every pruning mistake in the book, your roses will likely be better off than if you had not pruned them at all.
Roses must be pruned for several reasons. The primary reasons have to do with keeping the plant healthy, maintaining the plants beauty and attempting to keep the plant from getting out of bounds, which can happen within a rather short period of time, especially the taller varieties.
Proper pruning practices present you with large gorgeous flowers atop sturdy, tall stems, excellent for cut flowers. A good general rule of thumb is the further back you cut a rose bush, the lesser number of, but larger flowers you will get, and they will be on taller, tougher stems. Prune less, and you acquire scaled-down flowers yet more of them.
Pruning removes diseased or damaged parts of the plant. What's more , it keeps the plant more open within the center, increasing air flow and minimizing pest problems.
If pruning does not occur, most rose plants grow to large and monstrous. They can truly take over and swallow up any smaller plants in its trail. Pruning keeps them exactly where they are suppose to be.
So, when is the most effective time to prune you ask. Well, whenever the weather is right and you have the time. You should do it yearly and during the proper season. Right before growth begins in late winter or early spring, exact timing depends on your geographical area and your climate. This is the best season for the main pruning. If you do the key pruning and do it well, then you should not have a lot to do throughout the rest of the season over and above cutting the spent roses off and taking pleasure in the stunning beauty of the rose.
Where winter temps are 10 degrees or lower, you will want to delay to prune until after the coldest weather has passed and any winter harm to the plant has transpired. March or April are usually the best time to prune for most people.
In pruning a rose plant, remove all dead or damaged canes, these will be the dark brown or grey colored canes, the shriveled looking and small scraggly looking twigs. Eliminate suckers, strong canes can arise from the rootstock below the bud union. You may need to dig around at the base of the plant to fully expose the bottom of a sucker. Cut it even to the rootstock. Leave the center area of the rose bush as open as you possibly can for circulation purposes. The plant should be sort of cup-shaped with flowering canes around the outside.
Once you have finished all the removal pruning, at this point you need to think about what you would like to save. The intention is to save the healthiest canes, these are the flowering canes that bloom in spring. The healthiest canes are the plumper and normally the bright green color. The amount of flowering canes you select depends upon the vigor and age of the plant. Having newly planted roses, leave about three to five flowering canes. Older plants can support more. Prune the flowering canes back by about a third to a half.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")