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Poorly performing roses
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Posted by markw_melb Vic Aust (My Page) on Fri, Aug 12, 05 at 1:49
| My rose garden has not performed very well over the last two growth periods of Spring and Summer. I prune the roses through the dormant period, but probably need to fertilize them more through the growth season. These roses are probably 15-20 years old.
I would appreciate any suggestions on how I can get a bit more life back into these roses and improve their bloom. Should I dig them up and root prune? Should I replace the soil around them, add manure, mulch etc? Or is it time to start replacing?
Also, I have some poor performing roses in some outdoor pots. My plan is to pull them out, root prune them and then replant with new potting soil. Am I on the right track?
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RE: Poorly performing roses
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- Posted by lozza Vic. Oz. (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 12, 05 at 16:36
| Mark, Probably the greatest problem in rose-growing is knowing which expert to listen to. My personal experience saw a need to produce top roses. To aid this process I joined the Rose Society of Victoria. During a 10-year period in the '60s and '70s there were many methods discussed as to how to produce top roses. From these exchanges and their implementation, I did achieve some success. I learnt thet water was the most important ingredient in cultivating roses, and that keeping the plant young resulted in the best roses. Water is readily available, and adequate pruning can be arranged by following a few simple steps. I have printed this before, but bear with me again. It reflects my method of keeping plants young and being satisfied with my roses. This is the safest time to prune modern roses. Plants are now dormant enough to quickly respond to the stimulus that pruning provides to the plants. Old roses, climbers and ramblers,should at this time only have non-productive wood removed. After blooming in Spring/Summer these types will generate new wood for flowering in the following Spring.
If you followed my suggestions on Summer Trimming (February), there will not be as much work involved in pruning the plants. We took the opportunity to remove unproductive wood at that time and less work is required now. Failing that, approach pruning your modern roses first of all by distinguishing old from new wood, and work to retain only young wood on the plant. Any wood growing into and across the centre of the plant is to be removed whether old or young. Aim to give the plant a vigorous future by now removing oldest canes at the base of the plant, hopefully leaving 4 or 5 young canes for the coming season. These canes will be trimmed from the top down just above a plump bud in the leaf axil. Do not prune modern roses by cutting rose canes crewcut style. This perpetuates the continuing existence of non-productive old wood, and considerably retards development of laterals on new wood, by effectively cutting to immature buds down the canes. Our climate is kinder than English conditions. We do not need to prune hard as is necessary there. We have inherited pruning methods from English books, but they do not apply in more temperate zones. There is no mystery to rose pruning. The object is to remove canes to encourage the plant to produce new canes. Cut out the old to create the new. |
RE: Poorly performing roses
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| Lozza, when I walk the dog I see a lot of 'pruned' old gnarled roses. Can I assume from what you are saying that these should be systematically removed? My roses tend to have a mixture of old and new wood. Should I be more brave and remove all the old wood once and for all? |
RE: Poorly performing roses
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One of the hardest things I find is trying to get neglected roses back into good health. SOme of the ones at work, where they were chosen for popularity, rather than suitability, I think I will have to just pull out. With lack of summer water, they have died back, and there is so much badly cut dead wood that many of them simply have just 1 branch of new wood, cracked old wooden stems, splits down the middle where water can get.
I don't have time this year, but next year I will be replacing them with much hardier old roses, that can stand the dry summer on a sloping bank. (suggestions welcome - to suit a lovely old red brick bank building 1860-something)
Here at home, I have 4 hybrid T's that were just allowed to grow to the eaves of the house, and occasionally lopped off at the top. Not standards - just bush roses. I have had to be hard on them but it has paid off with all except blue moon which is so mis-shapen it might get the axe next year too.
I think I acquired pruning skills as a very young child following my father and grandfather around the garden, as i find I can look at a rose, see what I want to do with it before I start, and have the job finished in 5 to 10 minutes. With some 200 roses to prune, I didn't really find it a great chore this year.
I have been a little hard on the DA's this year, because I want to get into the garden bed and thoroughly clean it up without being lacerated too much, but I do find generally that they do their best with 6 weekly tidy up over summer and early autumn. The younger DA's I have not been quite so severe with.
Most of my roses are putting out new shoots now, so i can see where to cut back to, but some of the DA's I still can't see buds emerging. |
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