"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
On 06/08/2011 01:51, rose wrote:
When I took over my allotment a few years ago, there was a rose tree/bush
that I presume started out as a "proper" rose but has since gone wild.
The
trouble is that I've never been sure how to prune it.

It's approximately 9 foot high, but the first 3 foot at least is just
bare
"trunk". It used to flower, but the last couple of years it hasn't
(probably

That sounds a bit like it is an old rose variety that is growing on its
own roots. If it was wild there would be a fair number of suckers from the
vigorous rootstock rather than a single stem.

due to my pruning). What I've done the last couple of years, to try and
get
it under control is chop off about half the height of the stems that have
leaves on them, but all that happens is they shoot up within a couple of
months to the same height (if not a little higher) to what I cut off, and
don't even flower now.

It will next year flower on this years wood. If you keep cutting that off
then next year you get no flowers. Best bet is cut some bits right back to
a couple of buds from the main stem, some back by two thirds, some by a
third and leave a few stems at full length if you can tie them in out of
the way. Weak stems get cut out completely and strong stems leave as long
as you dare.

What I would really like to know, is can I prune it severely even to
where
the trunk part is? Would this promote growth to start lower down. The
trunk

Possibly not. I have seen very old rose trees go the way you describe with
a long lower stem with no new growth on it. There are a couple of old
roses here that look similar after a few decades of growth.

is very old looking a gnarly, would it send new shoots out or not? Id
prefer
it to be a height of about 6 foot, with less bare trunk and of course to
be
flowering again.

Best chance to see some flowers next year is leave a few stems at full
length this year and tie them in out of the way. Prune the rest by varying
amounts to improve the shape and remove crossing branches.

What you have been doing so far simply encourages the plant to put on lots
of soft whippy new growth that is not sufficiently mature to flower. Like
chopping all the ends of branches a tip bearing apple tree.

You can get the same problem by incorrect pruning of pyracantha if you cut
off all the new wood that would mature and have flowers next year.

Regards,
Martin Brown


Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I will try the cut a few leave a
few trick, as I have never seen suckers come from the base and have a
feeling that cutting low down would be the end of the plant. I don't want to
lose it as it looks great (or did when it flowered) but it's just out of
hand and my attempts seem to have made it worse. I might take a photo of it
and show you how odd it is :-)