Hi I have about 8 roses mostly heritage roses that have started leafing out already. They have been growing for three years now and its time to hard prune them as they got out of control while renovations happened to the Co-op I live in. I know its too early to prune. Is it OK to let them leaf out this early? And any idea of when I can prune? I was told to wait till the forsythias are blooming but there is none in my area. Any ideas would be appreciated. I have to transplant a couple as well.
I'm no expert, but I was at a Vancouver Rose Society meeting recently where Brad Jalbert (our own world-renowned rose breeder) was giving a talk. He answered this question by saying that he had done a controlled experiment by pruning early vs pruning late. His observation was that the early foliage often ends up stunted or misshapen and that the later-pruned plants took off and bypassed the early pruned ones. With my experience of Brad's encyclopedic knowledge of roses in mind, I would say pruning early is not a good idea (also the fear of a late sharp frost). Remember, pruning is a signal to the plant to go full speed ahead. As to transplanting, now is a good time in my opinion.
If they are budding out it is past best time for transplanting. If they are old garden roses or shrub roses they are not pruned the same way as modern bedding roses. With all types the more wood you leave on the more bloom you get the next blooming time, energy for flower production comes from the stems. In Britain an organized experiment determined that pruning bedding roses off flat, like a hedge, without making thinning cuts down inside resulted in more flowers afterward. This was due to the greater total volume of stems being retained by the arbitrary pruning off at the same height, than when traditional selective pruning was employed.
