"chasnewbie" wrote in message
...

Hi There,

As you can see from my login name, I'm pretty new to gardening in
general and roses in particular and have a problem I hope someone
can
help with.

We have inherited a couple of rose trees (the best way to describe
them) from the previous owners of our house. The problem is, they've
been left to their own devices and have subsequently become very
tall
and thin, approximately 8 or 9 feet. At the business end of each,
there
are a lot of great blooms but I'd ideally like to cut them right
back
and start from scratch to get a bush rather than a tree.

I don't think I'd have a problem if there were various stems
dividing
from the base but, rather like a tree, it's almost trunk-like and
there
are no divisons for the first three feet or so. I've a feeling that
if i
cut it back to where I'd like (almost soil level) I'd kill it and
pruning back to where the stem begins to divide just wouldn't look
right.

In a nutshell, is it possible to cut right back, or do I just cut my
losses and remove it and plane something else?

The usual advice is, when in doubt, cut
back some canes, see what happens,
cut more. I.e., without knowing exactly
what kind of rose it is, it's impossible
to give specific advice. With that height,
it's either a climber or some sort of old
garden rose. They have different
pruning requirements from their smaller
cousins. With a climber, you're better
off cutting a few canes down as far as
you can, but leaving other canes as is
and training them onto some sort of
structure, like a trellis.

Alternatively, you can in effect turn
a climber into a bush, if that's what you
want. I don't know what that would do
to the blooming. Before I knew much
about roses, I over-pruned three roses
that were young climbers and they never
recovered. They make so-so shrub roses.
But I don't know if all climbers (or old
garden roses) would respond the same way.

If you live near a botanical garden that has
roses, or a nursery with a knowledgeable
staff, you might take a cutting with a bloom
on it to see if they have any idea what it
might be.

Gail
near San Antonio TX USA Zone 8