Old Heirloom Roses
Pruning Roses


Please read through this to find out what you need to do for your particular kind of rose bush!!

 There is no great secret to prunning roses! Many gardeners shy away from this task for fear of pruning too much and killing the bush or making it look wierd. There are afew rules though, to follow and when you know these you can prune confidently and successfully every time. Firstly, in most of our Canadian climates prunning is best left until early spring. Fall pruning is alright in warmer climates but in colder ones Mother Nature has her own way of pruning, it's called "winterkill". Winterkill will leave the bushes black and dead which we have to prune off down to the good green wood.

In spring wait until you can see the new buds emerging on the canes. This way you won't be cutting off more than you need to as alot of roses (especially old ones) have mature canes that look dead but really are not!
First point of order if your roses are budded or grafted is to look for any unwanted suckers. These are canes that emerge from the rootstock below the bud union (that big bumb at the base of the rosebush). These suckers come from the roots, rather than from the bud union. This means that they are of another rose type (that of the roots) and not the variety you bought. Needless to say you need to get rid of them! The foliage of Suckers are usually different in appearance from the rest of the plant. Follow such canes carefully down to their point of origin below ground before tearing them away from the root Never cut them as this promotes more suckers from the point of origin. 


Most modern roses bloom on new wodd so best blooms will come from healthy, sturdy new growth. Old wood, grey and dry-looking, is near the end of its productive life. Such canes should be removed, leaving the plant to support three or four of its best new canes. Ideally, the new canes should be growing up and slightly outward in a 'vase' shape. Remove the old canes flush with the bud union. Avoid leaving stumps on the bud union. These will become hard and woody, and prevent the emergence of new canes. When that happens, your rose bush will bloom less and less, and finally should be replaced.


Remember The Three D's

Cut away all growth that is dead, diseased, or damaged. Remember the three d's

Now you must decide what you want from your roses in the coming year. Do you plan to show your roses? Or, do you simply want an abundance of blooms on healthy plants? In either case, depending on how cold your climate is & what Mother Nature has left on the rose, you may want to prune fairly hard. Leave behind no lateral growth(side shoots from a main cane) font>


Even if you never cut your roses for indoors, you should remove all growth that is smaller than the diameter of a pencil. This growth is too small to produce nice blooms and takes away from the vigor of the plant.
For most Hybrid Tea roses and established bushes -Moderate Pruning

This more gentle approach to pruning will produce greater volume of bloom. Stems will be shorter, however, and the individual blooms will most likely be smaller

 Severe Pruning

Severe pruning will give you fewer blooms but they will be larger. Ideal for showing your roses.

Your completed pruning job should produce a rose plant no more than 2-3'tall. Take into account the natural growth pattern of the plant you are pruning. Your dead, diseased & damaged wood comes off first. Start at the tip of the canes & keep prunning down until your into healthy green canes with light beige middles. Once you become accustomed to prunning you will be able to go right to the final cut but don't be too anxious to cut off more than you have to! 

The final pruning cut at the top of each cane should be made approximately 1/4 inch above an outward- facing bud eye. Make pruning cuts at a 45-degree angle, as shown here

Pruning Other Types of roses usuch as Florabundas, and Modern Shrub Roses

Much of the confusion gardeners experience is with the other types of roses like the Shrub Roses, Old Garden Roses, Floribundas, Miniatures, and climbers. The truth is that, once you have the basic technique down pat, you can easily transfer your pruning knowledge to all types of roses!
Floribundas, for instance. They're even easier than Hybrid Teas. Follow the same guidelines, (remove all dead, damaged, or diseased growth) but prune more lightly. Most Floribundas dislike harsh pruning.

Forget that 'smaller than a pencil' rule, and leave your Floribundas & shrub roses with some of their twiggy growth. When you're done, the center of the plant should be opened up, and no leaves should remain. This allows sun and air to enter the center of the plant and thus less suceptable to fungal diseases.
Shrub & English Roses NOT OLD ROSES!! If they are small and twiggy in growth habit, prune them like Floribundas, and you'll do just fine. It they're moderate in growth, think of them as Hybrid Teas, and prune them lightly.

It is not uncommon for Elglish Roses(David Austins) to be killed right down to the ground in most Canadian climates. If this is the case, prune off all dead wood and fertilize. New growth should emerge from below the ground level. 

In the warmer parts of Canada you can have many Old Heirloom roses and English roses grow rampantly. Gee I only wish this could happen here in Nova Scotia! 
If your English roses tend to grow long & lanky, cut them off bringing them down to 3'. Constance Spry is the only English rose we know of that shouldn't be treated this was & this is because it is really a climber. Train & prune it as such. Good luck if you think you can keep it as a low,dense bush!

Another approach with these roses is to simply treat them as climbers. Pull their canes out horizontally along a fence, or wind them around a rough 'teepee' of three poles. In either case, the result is an increase in the number of bloom-carrying lateral breaks. We see more repeat bloom using this method.

Once-Blooming, Old Heirloom Roses


Once-Blooming Old Heirloom Roses require little prunning. They bloom on last years growth so you really don't want to cut away too much of this as you'll be prunning away next years blooms. If Winterkill has cut them down drastically, Apply a healthy heaping amount of compost, bone & bloodmeal or Alphalpa twice(onec in spring & then again after the bloom or if there were no blooms, around Early July. This will encourage new growth. Old roses DO NOT LIKE ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZER; SO STAY AWAY FROM IT!!

If your roses usually die right back every winter you might want to consider covering or at least sheltering the rose so you can get blooms next year with out too much dieback!

If you didn't prune your once-bloomers last summer-after they finished blooming-you've missed the boat for the present. If you prune them now, you will remove next spring's bloom. What's that you say? They're growing out into the pathways and blocking the gateway? Well, in that case, they leave you no choice. Prune off the offending canes.

 

Old Heirloom Roses shouldn't be any more of a challenge. If they're small and bushy, treat them more or less like a Floribunda. If they're large and pushy (Albas, Centifolias, species etc.) you can prune them like a large Hybrid Tea Rose. Some Hybrid Perpetuals and most Bourbons fall into the same growth category as very large shrubs, and should be treated accordingly.


That brings us to Climbers. They're easier than they look. For the first few years, Climbers need little pruning. It takes most of them three years or more to approach a stage of maturity which warrants pruning. When the plant has matured, assess the main, or basal, canes and remove at the base any which are diseased, dead, or damaged. Lateral canes (smaller in diameter than a pencil) are best removed right down to the main cane. Larger laterals might be cut to about one foot.


 

Miniatures? Miniature roses are easy. Most miniature roses grow on their own roots. Check the base of the plant to see if there's a bud union or not. If they're growing on their own roots, the chances of them coming up from the ground is good should they completely winterkill. After their first bloom you can snip of an inch or two to help promote lateral shoots. If your miniature has survived unscathed in spring then as one rosarian put it- If it grows like a little Hybrid Tea, prune it like a little HT. If it grows like a little Floribunda, prune it that way. If it is a Miniature Climber, it will appreciate being treated like its larger counterparts! Well said don't you think? 
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