I believe I have what is called a hybrid tea rose. I need some help with pruning please. Right now it has both black spot and powdery mildew. 1) Should I remove all the affected leaves? 2) How much should I prune off and where do I make my cut? 3) Should I prune some of it now and more again in February? I appreciate your help. Thank you.
Timing depends on where you garden and what your winter is going to be like. Abbotsford is somewhere around USDA Plant Hardiness zone 6-7 - I think. It's important not to undertake hard pruning at this time, because your rose has not gone into dormancy. Too much pruning at this time will cause the rose to produce more shoots - too late in the season to allow them to harden enough to survive through the winter. I prune shrub, hybrid tea and floribunda roses in two stages: End of Season Pruning (fall) At the end of the year, once the roses have gone into dormancy - i.e. shed their most of their leaves - I prepare them for winter. Where we garden, this is usually in November. 1. remove all diseased or damaged canes 2. remove all weak and thin, nonproductive canes 3. remove canes that cross and rub each other 4. shorten tall canes - usually by about a third of their height - to reduce damage from wind rock 5. secure taller canes that I wish to keep, by stacking them 6. there is argument whether it is beneficial to stripe off the remaining leaves. I do, because the garden looks neater in the winter, and it saves on how much dormant spray I need to apply. Start of Season Pruning (spring) 1. remove all canes damaged by the winter 2. remove all parts of canes that are winter killed - viable canes have that crunchy feeling when you cut into them, winter killed canes fee softer and "mushy". The pith of the viable cane is "apple green" in color, and yellow in colour (looks similar to slight tobacco stain) if dead. I make progressive cuts from the top until I reach viable canes, then make a final cut about a 1/4 of an inch above an outside facing bud, with e cut sloping inwards. Now, a there will be gardeners who would say that the distance above the node is not important. But cutting it near to the node makes it look neater, as you are not left with dose unsightly dead snarls. Whatever you choose, make sure you make clean cuts with sharp, clean bypass pruners. 3. Remove old and nonproductive canes 4. remove inside canes if they are too overcroweded - the idea is to "open up the center" of the plant to increase airflow. 5. If most of the canes are viable, I prune the canes of hybrid teas to about 6-10 inches from the bud union. The timing of the spring pruning is important. The old adage in northern gardens is to start spring pruning when the forsythias are in blooms. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the weather has played tricks with late freezing weather. Pruning too early can trigger cause young vulnerable buds to start growing in milder weather, only to be damaged by a late frost. On the other hand, pruning too late risk weakening the plant due to the loss of sap, if this were done after the sap has started to flow. Spring pruning in our garden is usually late March or early April, but you will need to keep a diary of your garden to decide the correct timing for your conditions. As a general rule, it is to prune once the risk of any further freezing weather is over. It is useful if for you to document this for your garden over a period of several years - not just for roses, but for other plants as well. Another sign I look for are the buds of the laterals starting to show.
Weekend Gardener ~ Thank you very much for your lengthy and easy to follow instructions. I've printed it out and will be referring to it often. I believe I'm in Zone 8a. Since the leaves are covered with mildew and blackspot, I think I should remove them before they cause damage to other near plants. I will dispose of them carefully so as not to spread the disease. Thank you for explaining about how to tell the difference between the viable canes and those that have been killed from winter. I wouldn't have known otherwise. I'm one step ahead of you...lol - I've already started my gardening diary and I think this is a good idea for me since I'm just learning. BTW, dumb question...but what is a bud union? I wish I had a diagram that points out the names of the rose parts. Thanks soooo much for all your help. This is very helpful information to me.
Most commercially grown roses produced for the residential gardens and the greenhouse industry consists of two parts - the decorative rose is grafted on to another rose called the root stock. The location where the scion of the decorative rose was grafted on to the root stock becomes a swollen part of the stem, betweem the roots and the part of the main trunk where the stems emerge. This swollen bit is the bud union. The part of the rose below the bud union (the "shank" and the roots) belongs to the root stock plant, and the part above it belongs to the decorative rose. Here is an American Rose Society's definition, with the definition of a number of other parts of a rose. The number of roses available as own root specimens are increasing, though. Own root roses were propagated from cuttings, so that the whole plant, including the roots, belong to the one decorative rose plant - these types do not have bud unions.
Hi Weekend Gardener, Thank you for the link and explanation. Okay, now I'm educated on the anatomy of a rose. I now know what a bud union is. Thank you for all this information. I've been reading about roses for the last day or so. I have read that after making a cut, it is a good idea to put elmers glue or clear nail polish on the area where you make your cut so insects don't bore into the stem. Should I be doing this too? Also, should I use a dormant spray on the rose bush? Are you suppose to spray all your plants with a dormant spray or does it depend on where you live and/or the type of plant? Sorry for all the questions. I have a passion for gardening and I want to learn. Thanks again WG!
