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Questions, Answers and Comments by Category
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Initial post
6 NOV 05 by
Anonymous-797
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how do i winterize Knock Out roses
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#1 of 6 posted
22 APR 06 by
William
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Need to know more: what Zone you live in, what your freezing conditions are like, do you live near a lake etc.
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I live in San Francisco al La Honda Hills. Could you please tell me when to prune rose bushes.? Frost and winter cold are neglgible. thanks. Syed |
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#3 of 6 posted
19 OCT 06 by
William
Your climate does not require you to prune except to keep your roses looking neat. I would prune hard (meaning about 1 1/2 ft from the ground) in the spring, at least once during the summer and again in early fall. This may seem harsh but when you give them a good pruning providing they had sufficient fertilizer they will come back very profusely. |
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Hi Syed,
You don't say what classes of roses you have and pruning techniques vary by class. Assuming you are talking about Hybrid Teas and Floribundas, In Northern California, we don't advise sever pruning. In general, we remove only the top third of each of the longer canes. If yours is a rose that produces a lot of new canes from the base (basal canes), you can remove the very oldest ones when you have more than 7.
It is good if after that, you strip all the leaves off and remove any under the rose on the ground. This reduces overwintering of fungus spores.
William's drastic pruning advice is what one would tell exhibitors who want a few very large blooms to show. My advice will give you much more bloom and longer living roses.
As to when to prune in this are where many roses never go dormant, they are at their lowest level of activity in late December and early January. Christmas week is a good time.
Mel Hulse
Volunteer Director
San Jose Heritage Rose Garden
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Syed The San Jose Heritage Rose Garden is a wonderful rose garden. What Mel forgot to say in his post is that the garden needs volunteers to come to garden on work days (Wednesday and/or Saturday mornings) to help prune the roses in the garden. Mel and other volunteers help train the new volunteers on how to prune and care for roses. If you have time, I suggest you visit the garden on one of their workdays dedicated to pruning. You'll be amazed at how much you'll learn and you will meet some great people who love growing roses. Smiles, Lyn, helpmefind.com |
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#6 of 6 posted
22 OCT 06 by
Wendy C
When I lived in Sunnyvale I pruned my roses in February. I didn't hard prune them just took out the twiggy stuff and dead wood. This is for modern roses Hybrid Teas, Floribundas and the like. If you have Old Garden Roses I would only remove the dead wood and wait to prune them until after they bloom.. and then just enough to make them look good. OGR's in general don't like to be pruned. I would suggest you check with your local Rose Society. Or ask a neighbor who has nice roses. Each area is different. |
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