does anyone suscribe to the theory of pruning roses with a chainsaw, I have always been a traditionalist?

Question

a horticulturist has recently done this and states publicly that there in no appreciable difference to his blooms. There is so much info about rose pruning one is apt to get confused especially as there are so many types,hybrid tea.floribunda. standards, bushes, shrubs, climbers, ramblers, French, English and others, all, we are told should be pruned differently. Its a bit confusing ain't it. I am leaning towards the chainsaw method as the bloke next door hasn't a clue yet his roses are as good as mine, after I've spent hour after hour slight pruning in Autumn to prevent wind 'rock', full pruning about now to an outfacing bud at an angle to prevent rain steeping into stem causing die back. Are we being conned
by the so called experts? or is whackin e'm off with a chainsaw a more expedient way? I'm a bit of a coward and
cannot bring myselt to such drastic action. What are your views roselovers?
Shropshire
England

Answer 1

I believe I know what they are getting at with the chain saw..The chain saw rips the vine into or tears it as to a clean cut, maybe you can get the same effect with your Roses by using a pair of pliers after you cut the stem just squeeze the ends with pliers and that should allow it to weather the same way as the chain saw cut does. (It's only to get a ragged end instead of a smoth cut)

Answer 2

Some roses that are more thicket like may take chainsawing such as groundcover roses, but I would never do my hybrid teas or floribunda.

I have seen this done but I think it is just a push usually by rose retailers to get more people to grow roses. See you just use a hedgecutter to trim them, no trouble at all, see easy- buy some!

In reality if you continued to use hedge trimmers you would end up with a mess, for example no one has cut out the old branches do they just become a thicket. No one has cut out the branches with die back - now this may spread to graft and you may loose the whole brush. Because the stems will die back to the closest bud most of your stems will have die back to some extent down the stems. If you think this doesn't matter, my husband pruned our roses when he was a novice, this way and killed 3. There is still the problem of not clearing out the centre of the bush for air flow a major prevention method for fungal disease.

Having said that you can fuss too much. I prune all my David Austin, floribunda and hybrid tea roses the same, and they are all florishing.

Check the bush for dead branches. Cut out.

Check the bush for very old branches and if you have plenty of new ones cut one or two out every year to revitise the shrub. If you don't have many green or young branches on the bush leave till next year.

Prune all remaining stems down by a 1/3 to 1/2 depending on where you find an outward facing bud. Can't find an outward facing bud, not to worry use an internal one till the next prune. Make sure that any branches with die back are cut down to below where it starts. Remove any inward growing branches, this gives an shrub with an empty vase shape - good for air circulation and disease prevention.

If your dead heading, remove the spent flower heads as if you are picking roses for a vase and cut back a foot or so to an outward facing bud, this will save on pruning later.

Some garden experts get very precious about their techniques, but roses are related to blackberries and are pretty tough. As long as you are keeping the diseases, and die back under control (my main objection to the hedgetrimmg method), fertilizing well and not pruning too hard you shouldn't get into to much trouble. I think if you continued to use the chainsaw method you would eventually end up with a diseased thicket that you may not be able to prune to fix . Only my opinion but I wouldn't do it.

Answer 3

A hedge trimmer would give you more control than a chainsaw, assuming you're not planning to go down to almost root level.

I remember watching Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners World doing a test of the different types of rose prunning many years ago. He pruned some in the traditional way just above the node buds and others just randomly and quickly pruned. The results showed that both methods of pruning made no difference to the results, the roses thrived equally well.

Answer 4

A chainsaw NO, but a hedge trimmer YES.

The RHS published an article this month in their members magazine "The Garden" in which The Royal National Rose Society had done trials on bush roses with a hedge trimmer.

They recommend light pruning of well established roses, but said that "a rough clip with hedge-trimmers gives better results than "traditional" methods".

So I wouldn't recommend that you hack at a rose with a chainsaw (apart from the obvious danger) as not only is it not suited to small twiggy growth, but you'll get a better result by shaping with a hedge trimmer.

Removing too much rose will remove a lot of the rose's available vigour. Cut out old unproductive growth to encourage new shoots (not too much) and shape the rest with your hedge trimmer.

Got to be worth a go. I'd still have a good read of a decent rose book to give you some background info' on the roses themselves.

Hope you have plenty of blooms. Here's a couple of links that might give more info for you:
http://www.findthatrose.net/advice2.htm
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/Chronicle/excerpt/0811818446-e0.html

Answer 5

I thought myself a rather experienced gardener but had not heard of Lady Banksia Rose. I searched Banksia Rose and got the 'suggestion' of Lady Banksia Rose, clicked on Buzzle-WOW! Found the Guiness World Record Banksia is in Arizona, USA covers 8,000 square feet, has a trunk which is 4 meters in diameter, was planted in 1885. If yours has a "tree trunk" your only option may be a chainsaw, especially if left unpruned for a long time. You may want to try starting new plants from cuttings before drastically cutting, in case it does not 'recover'. I have rooted cutting of 'normal' roses with good % of success. I cut right after bloom time, dip in rooting hormone and place in growing mix like green houses use to start seedlings. Set in a shady, cool spot, keep moist. It helps to invert a glass container over the cutting. Some cuttings do better if the stem is split and held open by inserting a wooden tooth pick to keep spread. I have also cut half way through a stem, dusted with rooting hormone, and buried in soil, placing weight on it to prevent it moving about, all while cane is still on the main plant. Usually in one growing season it will have rooted and can be severed from mother plant and transplanted. Carefully checking rooting progress after a year and allowing more time if needed is an option.

Answer 6

Sure,and then you and a friend can pick up a lawn mower and use it to trim the bushes! NOT!
Why anyone would use a sledge hammer on a finish nail is beyond me. Use the right tools and you will have the nicest results. I guess it would depend on the thickness of the rose bushes.If a chainsaw trimmed them cleaner than a pair of pruners,why not try something new? Good luck and enjoy the gardening.

Answer 7

1

Answer 8

I did this to my rosebushes at the end of the season, and they came back much thicker and less leggy. That said, I would not prune them this way once they've gone to bud; it just doesn't seem likely that they'd recover quite as well.

Answer 9

wow a chainsaw ,i could never do that .I just enjoy getting in there with pruners ,and take my time .are you in that big of a hurry?take your time and enjoy pruneing your roses.

Answer 10

I use napalm. But then I dig the scorched earth effect.