Great Expectations

Pruning various roses for maximum yield of blooms.

- Ludwig Taschner

What do you expect from your roses? Do you want large, perfect blooms for picking or do you prefer masses of blooms that provide a show? Do you enjoy pampering your roses, or should they just look after themselves?

Every gardener is different and wants different things, which means there is no right or wrong way to grow roses. Varieties also differ. Those like ‘Cora Marie’ and ‘Andrea Stelzer’ that produce very long stemmed blooms can be tamed by light pruning. On the other hand, varieties like ‘Duftwolke’, ‘Egoli’ and ‘New Zealand’ tend to sprout from too many eyes if lightly pruned, resulting in many short-stemmed blooms as well as many blind shoots that don’t form a terminal bud. All this needs to be taken into account before you start pruning in July.

Light pruning

This is applicable if one of the following boxes is ticked:

Lots of flowers on shorter stems;

Roses growing in partial shade;

Roses growing in mixed beds;

Roses that don’t get a lot of attention;

Novelty roses like Spire, Panarosa, ‘Iceberg’ type roses, shrub and ground cover roses.

Light pruning is simply a light trimming of the rose using hedge clippers and the removal of dead or twiggy growth to open up the bush. You can also cut out crisscrossing stems and reduce forked stems to a single tine. This means that the rose is not cut down substantially but remains tall with plenty of stems that will sprout quickly in spring. This quick sprouting produces green leaves that feed the roots, giving the rose a good start.