Is rose pruning an art or even a science? So much has been written about the correct way to cut roses that many laypeople no longer dare to use pruning shears. But have courage: roses are much more robust than you think!
Spring is a good time to prune roses
Prune roses between late March and early April
Traditionally, it's time for spring pruning when the rosebuds swell. This very often coincides with the forsythia bloom, which can be a good clue not only for inexperienced gardeners. The best time for pruning is between late March and early April. Do not be afraid of this step: there is no ideal recipe for pruning roses, just a few basic rules.
Why should you prune roses at all?
When pruning roses, the gardener imitates a completely natural process: browsing by wild animals. In nature, bushes and other plants are repeatedly eaten by wild animals, which is why, for example, garden plants that have not been cultivated much, such as wild roses, can always rejuvenate themselves from the base. However, most cultivated roses have lost this ability, so you will have to prune such a rose. In the garden, the scissors fulfill the task of a deer or stag.
The basic rules of pruning roses
Do not start cutting right away, but take your time to look at the structure of the rose bush before you start cutting. Take a step back from time to time to look at the overall effect of your cutting measures - pay particular attention to good proportions.
Distinguish old wood from young wood
You can recognize young shoots by the fresh green bark. The older they get, the more cracked they become. The firm, woody shoots take on a more grey-brown color over time. When pruning annually, you should cut back the three to five-year-old shoots to the base to encourage new growth of fresh shoots.
Attention: Not every rose variety is cut the same way
Keep in mind, however, that roses that bloom once (which includes almost all historical roses) only bloom on previous and perennial shoots - in contrast to the modern multiple-blooming varieties, whose flowers are only formed on this year's shoots. For this reason, the annual pruning of once-blooming roses does not take place in spring, but only after flowering in summer.
Cut just above sleeping eyes
An eye, recognizable as a red raised dot, is a bud from which a new shoot develops. The flowering shoot then develops later in the leaf axil. The cut is always about half a centimeter to a centimeter above a so-called sleeping eye, whereby the cut should always be made at a slight angle - then the rainwater can run off faster. The shortening "wakes up" the sleeping eyes and leads to stronger branching and thus to more flowers. Namely, if roses are not pruned, only branches will form at the top eyes, while the base will be bare.
tips
Shrub roses that bloom more often are allowed to grow for the first five years, after which they are cut back to one, two thirds or half of their growth height every year. A step cut makes sense so that the shrub gets a good shape.