Roses with problems

@burnie I'd just like to point out that most members of GC trust Wiseowl's judgement implicitly. He is a long time served Rosarian and I for one trust his word.

I grow Floribunda's (shrub roses) and prune them at the start of each season in February. When they finish their first flush of flowers I prune them lightly and this in turn brings on further growth and flowers.

 

Wow, they look lovely! @Sheal When u prune, how far do you prune? I'm not great at pruning-i just guess where I'm cutting and make sure i don't cut back to hard woody growth. Is this wrong? I'm clueless!!!


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I too am in admiration of the knowledge that wiseowl has, I merely posted the advice of the late Geoff Hamilton as a guide to someone asking a question. I quoted from his books that I find particularly useful and I know at the time they were written were used by millions of gardeners as a guide.

 

The pruning of roses is different depending on which type of rose we are talking about. The Floribunda's tend to grow many of their flower clusters on short stems. Once the flowers have died I will prune back to approximately 16in, if that stem allows me to take it back to the next stem joint with the main branch. If the stem is longer then I will prune back taking into account the height of the other stems so that it keeps an over all even height and shape. This would be close to and just above a leaf joint or leaf/stem bud, depending on the time of year. It will take a few weeks to produce new shoots/flowers but that is part and parcel of a repeat flowering rose. Floribunda's will repeat three times during the growing season depending on the weather situation. These particular roses are hardy compared to many which is why I chose them for the difficult weather patterns here on the island and my sandy soil.

I winter prune in mid to late February taking stems out right to the base of the shrub if necessary to avoid crossing stems and to open up the centre of the rose, the aim is to gain a cup shape as roses need air circulation to help them stay free of disease. Most stems I reduce to approximately 18 inches, pruning back to a leaf/stem bud, also thinking about which way that bud is facing because that's where new shoots will grow from. Cut about half and inch or so above the bud on a slant to help prevent water damage.

Hmmm, I've got a little carried away with my reply here but I hope it serves a purpose @Snorky85 .

 

Wow, thanks @Sheal. That's the kind of pruning advice I needed. I'll be giving it a go. Hopefully if I can prune back hard then I will be able to get rid of a lot of the black spot.

 

You can just pull the leaves off @Snorky85, the rose may look bare for a while but will produce new leaves. Clear away any leaves from around the rose/roses as black spot spores can be transferred to other roses nearby. In turn you should either burn or bin the leaves as the spores can be transferred if you put them on a compost heap.

 

Thanks @Sheal I've given them a health check...pulled the infected leaves off, dead headed and have bought a special rose feed which i'll give them tonight


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Just been reading a new book with a section on roses...am I correct in thinking this one is a hybrid tea? Rather han a floribunda?

 

Thanks @wiseowl makes sense and was what I thought too. You know the petals have gone a little brown-will that have been caused by the recent frosts or linked to the blackspot?

 

Thank you! Actually out therenow clearing everything up off the floor etc ready to bonfire it all. I'll cut the blooms and infected leaves off then in feb i'll do a big chop back as per the gardening expert book (the big dr hessayon book).