Any ideas about My Rose problem?

Question

I was following online advice and bought a good clipper and was going to wait 2 years before pruning for the first time. Someone thought they were doing me a favor and cut them a year early with old clipper! They look awful! It looks like weeds or a different plant growing from some of the clipped stems. Most are stunted and haven't grown an inch in 1 month! Any idea how to repair? Thanks for ideas!!

Answer 1

Good news! Actually roses are pretty hard to destroy. Leave it alone for awhile except for watering and feeding during the summer months and into autumn. Then let nature take its course with mulching or covering if necessary in your area for hard frost. Next spring is a new season and you will see it take off! A good rose food and insect repellent is Ortho Systemic Rose Food found at most garden centers. This will feed your roses and protect them at the same time from various pests and diseases. Keep your friend with the bad clippers away from your roses.

Answer 2

There is no real reason to wait two years or any other specific amount of time before pruning roses. The general idea on pruning is to prune plants when they need it. Nurserymen often prune roses on the day of planting or several times prior to sale in order to maximize their quality.

Your path to good roses is in providing the proper conditions of good soil, light, water, and protection from pests. It sounds as if the plants you have are not growing vigorously if they have only grown an inch in 1 month. Particularly if the new growth is stunted looking or off color. The plants may need food, or more or less water. How often are you watering? A common problem on many ornamental plantings is actually overwatering. You could dig down a little bit near the plants to determine if the soil is either too dry or waterlogged underneath the surface. I would not water them every day, more like once or twice a week. Full sun is best, and fluffy, organic, well drained soil. Water deeply when you water.

If you are growing hybrid tea roses for cut flower use (the long-stemmed kind) you are pruning each time you harvest a flower. You should cut the stems of spent flowers back to about the second set of five leaves to get additional flowers. If you have the shrub rose type for garden bloom they require far less pruning. In this case you could go around and just remove spent flowers. Many varieties are "self cleaning" and require no extra pruning during the bloom time. Feel free to prune any time during the season for shaping. Prune them significantly (some would say prune them hard) in the early spring as they begin to leaf out, selecting 3-6 sturdy, fresh looking canes to keep. I cut them down to 6-12" tall and thin out all the old, dead looking canes and the thin, little stuff. then you will have lots of growth from the base.

In either case, try to get these plants growing more vigorously. Pruning is not an issue if the plants are happy. And yes, a good clipper is essential, but I have some pretty old pairs! I like the Felco 2's the best.

Answer 3

Your rose will recover just fine. It is important to prune a rose when it is dormant, just a few weeks to a month before it buds out in the spring. If you prune during summer or fall, it may start to grow again, but then the tender new growth may get damaged when frost comes.

I have all sorts of roses, and each type gets pruned differently. If your soil happens to be poor, or has disease in it, that can affect the rose too.

I do not believe in frequent fertilizer for roses. Wild roses do not get fertilized at all, except for leaves that fall, and the occassional animal that leaves a little pile behind. I give each rose bush a quart of well aged manure and a quart of garden compost each year. If you buy a box of some sort of organic fertilizer, and apply a cup or so of that twice a year, the plant will get a steady amount of nutrients. If you use pelletized, chemical fertilizer, only use the recommended amount as stated on the bag. Be aware, that type fertilizer is concentrated, and only provides a few nutrients, whereas manure and compost give all sorts of trace nutrients.

As for pruning, there are definate dos and don'ts.

Do prune after the plant loses it's leaves to frost. If your winters are very cold, wait until you start seeing tiny swellings on the stems before pruning. The way to prune varies depending on variety, but it sounds like your "friend" is not familiar with proper pruning techniques.

I highly recommend you read up on proper pruning, and you can get all sorts of great information here: http://www.rosemagazine.com/pages/pruning.asp

Answer 4

Wish I could see a picture!

Try watering deeply a couple times a week and application of a slow-release fertilizer like Osmocote, every month.

Roses are heavy feeders.

I would never wait 2 years to prune my rose, even a climber. Pruning encourages plant growth.

Answer 5

My advice at this stage would be to make sure they are getting sufficient water and wait until the next growth spurt.

Answer 6

Coffee grounds, egg shells, beer, and Miracle Grow. Really, beer. My roses love it. Good luck.