Pruning care
flowering roses. If, however, you have roses with lovely hips for autumn, such as rugosas, leave the finished blooms on the bush.
Roses can be grown organically without chemical sprays by choosing those suited to your site, ensuring you are watering and feeding them well, have provided good air circulation, prune them appropriately and clear up fallen leaves that may harbour diseases. There is evidence, too, that roses are healthier when they are provided with companion plants that attract beneficial insects and repel pests, such as aphids. Recommended companions include allium, nasturtium, thyme, geranium, rosemary and alyssum. Keep in mind that roses don’t like too much root competition, so don’t choose invasive or aggressive plants that will overcrowd them.
Ramblers, species, and rugosas are very hardy; there are lists of disease-resistant varieties on rose websites, such as David Austin’s. Healthy roses have a natural disease resistance, but it also helps if we learn to tolerate a little imperfection.
These simplified guidelines from The National Rose Society help dispel any fears of the procedure in novice gardeners.
For bush and shrub roses prune down to half their height in spring and remove all dead wood. Don’t, however, prune English shrub roses too hard over the first couple of years, until they have established, to help the stems mature and support the blooms of these types of roses.
Climbing roses need to be pruned in spring down to the desired height, and all dead wood removed, which will promote new growth for the flowers that year. After three or four years, remove old stems, one per year, towards the bottom of the rose to promote growth lower down and get flowers all along the plant. As ramblers flower on the previous year’s growth, they need to be pruned just after flowering, as they then will produce new wood for next year’s blooms.