"lj" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I know nothing about caring for roses but inherited a rose
plant from the
previous owners of my home. Didn't really do anything
with it last year and
just noticed the other day that it's pretty overgrown, so
much so that it's
taking its trellis down with it. I'm in Boston, we're
still going below
freezing at night and some days, though I'm hearing 40s
and 50s later this
week. Is this a good time to prune it? How do I go about
pruning it and
how far back can I safely cut? And do I need to actually
attach it to the
trellis or will it wind around on its own?

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

Laura

Pruning partly depends on the kind of rose, but
some general rules:
-usually prune after the last average frost date.
I don't know when that is for your area, but not
now. You can probably ask a local nursery.

-cut out anything that's dead, as far down as you can
Dead stuff will usually be dark brown and brittle,
and if you cut a little bit back to check first, the pith -
inside - will be brown rather than a healthy white.

-cut out canes that cross and rub against other
canes and keep the center all clogged up
Good air circulation helps the rose, and makes
pruning in subsequent years easier IMO.

If that takes care of about 1/3 of the plant, you
can probably stop and see how it grows, do more
next year. Or if you really want to do more,
take out a few healthy looking canes all the way
down to the bud union, but no more than a total of
about a third of the plant. That's a wild guess, since
I don't know what kind of rose it is, but is probably
reasonably conservative advice. Some roses "sulk"
if pruned too much (not bloom, or bloom less), but
it's hard to kill a rose that's been growing for awhile
by over- or under-pruning.

Rose canes need to be attached, they have no
suckers to attach themselves like some vines. I
buy flexible green tape (garden supply stores) and
tie up canes with that. Just don't tie tightly.

You might wander into a local nursery that carries
roses (or the botanical gardens) and get some
advice on pruning for your area.

Also check articles at the American Rose
Society web site:
www.ars.org
And since it's not that easy to find the link to
articles:
http://www.ars.org/explore.cfm/articles/

HTH - Gail
San Antonio TX