Pruning made easy

Pruning roses doesn’t have to be a faff! Expert Michael Marriott from David Austin Roses offers some golden rules

Expert Michael Marriott shows how to tidy roses

PEOPLE get so hung up about pruning roses, but it’s really very simple. The old rules from last century about counting buds and pruning to an outward-facing bud were devised for pruning hybrid tea roses for the show bench. Fortunately, with modern repeat-flowering roses you don’t have to faff around.

It’s never too late to improve the shape of a rose, so plants pruned badly in the past can easily be rejuvenated the following January or February. The main mistake people make is to leave behind too much woody growth. The basic rule is to reduce height by one to two-thirds. This generally means you’re reducing last year’s growth to about 5-8cm (2-3in). If you don’t, the plant will get taller, more lanky and woody. The exception is once-flowering old roses, which bloom on last year’s stems. With most modern repeat-f lowering roses you can cut them back as low as 15cm (6in) because they f lower on the current season’s stems. Hard pruning is good for rejuvenating a badly pruned rose, but not recommended on a regular basis. Pruning also gets rid of pests and diseases, which hang on to the old shoots and overwinter on the plant. It’s important to clear away any leaves. To start, stand back and look at what’s going on. Ask yourself: what do I want the plant to do? Using secateurs you can adjust the plant to satisfy most aesthetic needs, shaping the plant so the stems flower lower at the front and higher at the back, for instance. By pruning you limit height – even hybrid teas can get to a rather lofty 2m (6½ft). Start by removing any dead, diseased or damaged stems. Next, clear out the older stems and reduce height by one to two-thirds. The books say to remove crossing stems, but actually it’s only rubbing stems that can damage the plant. The golden rule is to take out the older of the two rubbing stems. Some stems might look a bit wayward but you may like to have a bit of eccentricity! If pruned right, each pruning cut will stimulate growth of two or three flowering spurs (approx 30-50cm/1219in long) in the coming year.

Don’t prune a new rose during its first year in the ground. The following January or February, prune its new shoots back to one-third. This first pruning will determine the rose’s height for that year, with each cut stem producing two or three new shoots. ✿

‘Gertrude Jekyll’

OLD VERSUS NEW You can see in the top pic (left) how last year’s stems have been reduced to 5-10cm (2-4in). Here Michael is removing a thin whippy stem and in the photo below, using loppers to take out an old woody stem that’s rubbing. ONCE-FLOWERING ROSES Here, excessively hard pruning will discourage flowering, so prune lightly to create a more informal habit. Where they’ve been deadheaded already, don’t prune at all. Instead, focus on gently pruning back the stem tips (far right) to control height. Also, prune out any weak stems and cut back older woody stems right back to ground level. DEADHEADING This is done throughout summer to promote more flowers. Repeat-flowering roses such as ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ (main pic) can be deadheaded June to September