On 9/14/11 2:49 PM, mj wrote:
On Sep 14, 5:42 pm, Nad wrote:
mj wrote:
Well the deer have eaten so much of my rose bushes they are clinging
to life. There are a bunch of dead branches as well as canes. I am
afraid if I cut them back as far as they need to be they won't make it
through the winter. On the other hand if they are dead it won't do any
good to leave them. Is there any salvaging to be done? I would ask the
rose group but there seems to be no one around there anymore.
Thanks for any ideas
MJ

Welcome to gardening

Save your money and do not bother buying a fancy fence or an arsenal of
chemicals to keep those roses nice and beautiful. Just get rid of the roses
and you will save money and most important of all you will not feel
depressed when something bad happens to your roses.

Grow Hydrangeas and not Roses!http://alturl.com/sgttj

One can prune roses and they will sadly come back. Prune just above a
union.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/roses/prune.cfm

--
Nad

Sorry I am with Madonna, not a fan of Hydrangeas

Thanks everyone but I will just keep plugging along. I guess I wanted
to know how far back I should prune them

The question is when to prune them. In my area (mild winter), they are
best pruned around New Year. Where my daughter lives (central prairies
of Canada), they should be pruned just as new growth buds start to swell.

See my http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_rosepruning.html, which is
more about the philosophy of rose pruning than a how-to guide.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary