Pruning In 4 Easy Steps

By July the roses are ready for pruning. Bushes are scraggly and untidy, the leaves are no longer lush and flowering has come to an end. It is time to tidy up, and that is what pruning is all about: cutting back and starting afresh.

- Ludwig Taschner

Roses that benefit most from pruning are hybrid tea, floribunda and bush types of English and Nostalgia roses.

Tools

You will need a pair of well-sharpened secateurs, a long-handled lopper and stout garden gloves.

Try this

If you are unsure of the different pruning heights, make a measuring stick. It should be at least 1m long. From the bottom, mark off the first 10cm. That is the depth that the stick is pushed into the ground. From the 10cm mark, measure off 50cm, 70cm and 90cm (which should be the end of the stick).

When to prune

In most areas pruning is best done during July and the first week of August. In very cold areas like the Eastern Free State and the Drakensberg pruning may be delayed until the second half of August.

1 It’s hard to know where to start, so my advice is to cut off all the top growth. This makes it easy to look into the bush and get a quick overview: old growth (with grey prickles), good strong stems and weak growth.

2 Cut tall roses down to a height of 70cm and medium roses to a height of 50cm, leaving several side stems on the main branches. Remove old, woody stems and criss-crossing stems. Remove all the leaves.