Summer Pruning of Roses

Believe it or not, garden roses need “pruning” all summer. You probably have accomplished many of these described tasks but not called them “pruning.” Even so, if the essential jobs are done correctly, you’ll enjoy more rose blossoms and have healthier and larger rose bushes.

Read over these descriptive summer jobs and follow suggestions where necessary:

Blind Wood

This term refers to the absence of a flower bud at the tip of a growing rose shoot. Shoots may be short or long and perfect in every detail except for the bud. In its place is a very small, hard “kernel.” If this hard tip is allowed to remain, no new side shoots will develop. Whenever you see blind wood, remove the tip down to a healthy five-leaflet. Maintaining a high level of available potassium in the soil can help reduce the number of blind shoots on roses.

Short Shoots

On both spring planted and some old rose bushes, new flowering growth will be very short. It is silly to allow these flower buds to open and rob the plant of nutrients. Better plan to pinch off the flower buds while they are the size of a green pea. Make the pinch or cut back to a five or three leaflet. The next shoot should be of greater length and bear a larger flower.

Basal Shoots

These are easily recognized as extra stout shoots arising above or near the bud union. Even though the shoots are sturdy and bear extra large foliage, they seldom produce a satisfactory bloom. The reason being all the “vigor” of the shoot went into stem and foliage production… the developing flower bud received little, if any, nutrients and water.

If you can harden your heart to the task, pinch out the growing tip of a basal shoot just before a bud develops or when the bud is the size of a green pea.

Basal shoots are highly desirable as they are the actual framework for next year’s growth.

Flower Removal

If you wish to pick a rose bloom for an arrangement or the rose blossom has faded, remove the blossoms and supporting stem down to a healthy five-leaflet… any one below the flower will do.

Make the stem cut as close to the five-leaflet as possible. When “stubs” are left, die-back (a fungus disease) starts.

Disbudding

If you wish a larger rose bloom, pinch off all side buds present. Try to do the pinching while the buds are extremely small, otherwise the bud scars will show. These scars, if visible, count against a perfect entry in a flower show.

If the rose variety normally produces flowers in clusters such as the grandifloras, some hybrid teas, floribundas and others, side flower bud removal need not be practiced.

Usually, in a flower cluster, the top bud opens first and fades before lower flower buds open. If you’ll pinch out the top flower once it fades, the lower buds will last longer.

Rambler Roses

These climbing roses flower in June on overwintered canes. These canes never flower again. Usually, immediately after the June blooming period, new basal green shoots appear. These are the canes which will flower next year.

After all blooms fade, the flowering canes could be cut to the ground or down to a point where new shoots are appearing. — One of the most important aspects of these summer pruning tasks is the maintenance of healthy rose foliage. Never remove much rose foliage at one time… even to enter a rose in a flower show.

Rose foliage is the manufacturing factory of plant “food” and if leaf area is reduced to a danger point, flowering is reduced, new shoot formation is curtailed and the general health of the plant is threatened.