Winter Rose Pruning: Your Last Chance Before Spring
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Pruning Roses is a job that everyone always talks about... but how and when do you actually do it? Well today that's what we are going to tackle.
When to Prune
The best time to prune roses is mid-late winter, early August works great (if your rose is starting to put on flower buds, time is running out). The first thing to look at is the three D's: dead, diseased, and damaged branches. Regardless of the shape implications those have to go. The other things we want to look out for are long woody sections with no leaves and branches that are crossing over or tangled.
How to Prune
Grab your secateurs and start pruning. Make sure its a sharp pair of secateurs, blunt ones will damage the plant and can lead to infection. Our new pairs of secateurs are very sharp. You want to chop back fairly hard, after each plant its very important to sterilise your secateurs, a dip in methylated spirits will suffice. A general rule we follow is chop each branch back to its lowest node that is facing away from the centre of the plant. This promotes growth away from the centre of the plant and avoids overcrowding and tangled branches. Cut into each branch on a slight angle about 5mm above the node. Healthy wood will show nice white pith in the centre of the branch when it is cut. Once you are done there should be short stumpy branches generally facing away from the crown of the plant.
Feeding and Disease Prevention
Once you have cut back all the old growth it's time to feed and protect from disease. The best food is Sudden Impact For Roses 1.5kg. This has all the essential nutrients and elements to help the rose flush with new growth and flower its head off. The next thing to use is Black Spot & Fungus Killa 250g. This magical product is a preventative for pesky Black Spot which can greatly damage rose growth. With these two products you will have the best roses on the street!
Increase Flowering
Once the new flush of growth comes and your rose has flowered it may be time for another lighter prune. If flowering slows down a much lighter prune back can promote more fresh growth and another flush of flowers.
