OK, I know it's actually the middle of Winter, but our Northwest Winter has taken a turn for the warm! I got up at 3 am this morning during a very strong windstorm, worried that the beautiful hand painted hummingbird feeder my sister gave me for Christmas would break. I grabbed my wifes bathrobe and braced myself for a bone rattling shiver. I stepped outside into the blustery wind and...it was warmer than inside! We had a very strong wind coming from the south bringing with it very warm air.
So now our plants (and some of our brains) are convinced that Spring is nearly here. Normally I would recommend pruning your fruit trees now and holding off on roses for a few more weeks. But this year the rosebuds are already popping and I thought it would be a good time to demonstrate basic rose pruning.
There's probably no such thing as a perfect pruning job, but there are guidelines and what I like to think of as a "pruning goal." When we're talking roses the goal is described as an upward facing open hand. To understand this turn your hand palm side up, bend your fingers up like you're going to balance a basketball on the tips, and spread your fingers out evenly. You'll end up with your fingers fanning out and an empty space in the center.
We strive for this to provide the most amount of sunlight to the different canes (branches) in the bush, and increase air circulation to help prevent diseases. The rose I pruned here is a Rugosa rose. This is a very hardy family of roses that are impervious to disease, so the air circulation is not as much of an issue, but I prune them like other roses just as a matter of habit.
When you approach your rose you'll probably find many canes coming up from a central base. First you want to decide on 3 to 5 of the healthiest looking canes that are fanned out basically evenly. All of the other weak, damaged, dead, or diseased canes can be removed right down to the base.
Next you want to cut back the canes you are keeping to outward facing buds, this keeps the bush growing in an open shape to maintain good air circulation. Buds are easy to find. If the buds aren't obvious, like the one in this picture, simply look for a semicircle around the cane. The dot above the semicircle is a dormant bud!
Many people think that roses need to be butchered down to 12 inches tall every winter. Not true!
People who need a few large perfect Hybrid Tea blossoms for the competition they are entering should prune their roses hard.
The rest of us, who want more flowers sooner, should prune our roses back by about 30 to 50 percent. I especially like to let English Roses reach their full potential, some of them 6 to 8 feet tall!
So sharpen your pruners, spray them with a little WD40 and get on out there!
