It’s time to prune the roses. Do you know how to do it? Trivial mistakes could compromise plant health and flowering. But don’t worry, here are the nurserymen’s suggestions to avoid mistakes.
Not all roses should be pruned and not all of them in the same way. There are a few rules to follow if we want a leafy growth of the plant and a copious and abundant flowering. In fact, despite its delicate appearance, the rose is a very robust plant, very resistant and has great resilience. So it’s okay with pruning roses if you know how.
When to prune it
The best time to intervene is at the end of winter, when there should no longer be the risk of night frosts that would damage the shoots. When the buds are swollen is the ideal time, before they open. In the warmest areas already at the end of January, in the coldest even at the beginning of March.
Use sharp pruning shears to cleanly cut the branch without causing chafing. Disinfect the scissors with denatured alcohol and repeat the operation when switching from one plant to another to avoid transmitting diseases.
Choose dry days because drops of water on the branches favor the appearance of fungal diseases. Check the weather to verify that no rain is forecast at least for the next day.
The roses that cannot be pruned
Not all roses require pruning. For this reason, it is important to know the variety being grown well. Keep the label present at the time of purchase to ensure you don’t make a mistake. Climbing roses, which form a thick shrub of natural size, should not be pruned so as not to distort their exuberance. For the same reason, you should avoid pruning old roses. They are splendid specimens with soft colours, hybridised before 1920, which do not usually repeat flowering. It is not even necessary to intervene in botanical roses, the wild species of shrubby habit. For these strains, you can simply cut off some of the older branches every two to three years to revitalize the plant. However, avoid performing this operation in winter so as not to compromise flowering, but postpone it to July.
Pruning roses, if you know the species you won’t go wrong
Instead, pruning is necessary for modern roses, although not all of them in the same way. They are specimens obtained from hybridizations, usually reblooming and with large and showy flowers that emerge from the foliage. There are bushy, landscaped or low-shrubbed varieties. Landscape rose bushes and those with low shrubs do not require pruning unless you want to shape the plant and avoid extensive development. Shrub varieties, on the other hand, should be pruned annually.
Start with the dry, broken branches, old, woody branches, and thinner twigs that have developed inside the shrub. Finally, work the rest of the branches at a height of 20-30 cm from the ground. Make a clean cut approximately half a centimetre above the new shoots and never horizontally to avoid water stagnation. Start at the bud and work diagonally down so that the rain runs off the bud. Immediately after pruning, administer a fungicide product of biological composition and an organic fertilizer.
