Tips
Rose pruning guidelines
Can you hear the sounds of secateurs being sharpened and saw teeth being set? These tools are about to be put into action because July’s the most popular month for rose pruning.
Not in every garden, of course. Gardeners in cooler areas will wait for another month or so until it’s getting closer to the end of wintry conditions. And those with roses that bloom only once a year (ramblers like ‘Dorothy Perkins’, caney Banksias and some of the heritage roses) will leave pruning until after the spring flower display.
But for most gardeners July is the time to get stuck into the rose bed. This sometimes requires strength of character because, with many modern roses flowering well into winter, it can be hard to bring yourself to sacrifice the intrepid blooms that are still braving the cold.
Before you start, make sure you have the right equipment. You’ll require good, sharp secateurs, a pair of sturdy gloves and a saw – with a narrow blade that fits into tight spots – for the thicker wood. Plus some Yates Lime Sulphur for the post-pruning, clean-up spray.
Tips for rose pruning:
- Start by using the saw to remove old, unproductive canes completely at the base.
- Then cut out any dead shoots and crossing-over branches.
- Next, snip off any twigs that are too thin to carry flowers.
- Finally, shorten back the remaining branches by at least one third. You can be more heavy-handed with the tall-growing roses. Cut back just above an outward-facing bud.
- Check the base of the plant for unwanted suckers coming from below the ground or the graft point. The graft point is usually evident as a slightly crooked or doglegged bump a few centimetres above the ground level. Shoots emerging from below this point should be uncovered and traced down to the root, then pulled off with a firm tug.
- Remove all remaining leaves from the plant. The easiest way to do this is with a pair of scissors. Pick up any fallen leaves from the soil. Put the leaves into a plastic bag and then bin (don’t compost) them. This helps prevent diseases from carrying over from one season to the next.
- While the roses are still completely bare, spray all over with Yates Lime Sulphur. This will kill off over-wintering rose scale and some fungal spores. Rose scale clings tightly to the main stems and will gradually build up until it covers the framework of the bush. You can hasten its removal by scrubbing severe infestations with an old toothbrush immediately after the Lime Sulphur application.
- When the rose shows signs of new growth, feed with Dynamic Lifter or Yates Thrive Granular Rose Food.
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