On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 14:02:56 GMT, "Gail Futoran"
wrote:

Dave - my only experience pruning that way
has been with ramblers - my husband will often
take a gas powered hedge trimmer to a well
established growth of 4 Red Cascade.

However, I also have rabbits who have a
tendency to do straight cuts on some of my
roses. Most do just fine and grow back without
a problem.

Given your specific problem rose, what about
an experiment? Prune a cane or two with
the straight across method, at the same time
prune another cane or two using the traditional
method. Keep track of how they do.

Good luck!

Gail

Well, I'm looking for more of a total bush approach. I sort of thought
that the idea of cutting straight across the middle of a large bush
was rather whacked (pardon the pun), but the poster said that it
seemed to work well. I wish I could find the original post. I'd like
some details about it this unusual technique.