Don’t forget your roses in the great autumn garden tidy-up
YOU may have cut down your perennials, done the last weeding of 2019 and neatened the edges on your borders – but what about your roses?
Many gardeners traditionally prune their roses in late winter or early spring, but it is possible to tidy them up in autumn.
CLIMBING ROSES
ESTABLISHED climbing roses will benefit from pruning from autumn to early spring. Cut back old unwanted stems to 30cm (12in) above ground level, thinning out crossed stems and congested growth before tying in the new season’s stems.
Remember that when you are making a cut above a bud, that bud will grow in the direction in which it is pointing.
When training the new season’s stems on to horizontal wire, create an evenly spaced fan of around half a dozen stems from which new flowering shoots will grow, tying them in as you go. In spring, cut sideshoots back to two or three buds from the main stem and tie in any further upright shoots.
SHRUB ROSES
THESE don’t necessarily have to be pruned in autumn, but a tidy-up won’t do them any harm. They can be trimmed back so the longer stems aren’t damaged by windrock. It also gives you a chance to get the bushes into a good shape, by cutting away straggly growth.
Trials have shown that you’ll get just as good a show of shrub roses whether you cut off the top of the bush using a hedge trimmer or prune in the traditional way, removing individual stems. However, if you are using a trimmer, make sure you remove dead or diseased branches within that framework afterwards to keep air circulating and the framework open.
Remove damaged and diseased leaves and faded flowers, but don’t deadhead roses which are going to produce hips, which add both colour and form to the winter garden.
OTHER ROSES
OTHER roses, such as modern bush roses, can be left until late winter or early spring, cutting out the dead and damaged wood before pruning the stems you want to keep by two thirds.
Also, look out for suckers at the base of the plants, locating their starting point underneath the soil surface, and pull them away from the parent plant.