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

mj writes:

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.

The roses may or may not come back.

Isn't the real issue the deer?

After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer,
I can tell you what works. Fences.

If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.

--
Dan Espen

On Sep 14, 12:31*pm, wrote:
mj writes:
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.

The roses may or may not come back.

Isn't the real issue the deer?

After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer,
I can tell you what works. *Fences.

If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.

--
Dan Espen

I have en electric fence for my vegetable garden but can't bring
myself to put one out for the rose bed. I DID have great success this
year with a deer repelant spray product that worked great. It was
having to be out of town and rain that caused the demise. They were
beautiful for most of the summer.

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:51:58 -0700 (PDT), 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

Roses benefit from severe pruning prior to freezing weather.
If you don't want your plants to be deer salad: FENCE!

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:50:34 -0700 (PDT), mj
wrote:

On Sep 14, 12:31*pm, wrote:
mj writes:
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.

The roses may or may not come back.

Isn't the real issue the deer?

After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer,
I can tell you what works. *Fences.

If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.

--
Dan Espen

I have en electric fence for my vegetable garden

Okay, you have deer, but don't tell me you have no rabbits... electric
fences do nothing to repel rabbits, and eventually deer learn to hop
over.

but can't bring
myself to put one out for the rose bed. I DID have great success this
year with a deer repelant spray product that worked great. It was
having to be out of town and rain that caused the demise. They were
beautiful for most of the summer.

During winter when deer are hungry they will pay no attention to any
schtinkin' repellant. The only method for keeping deer out is a real
fence... and occasionally they will ram into a fence and knock it
over. Fence that rose garden, real fence.

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

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

Nad writes:

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

Warn us when a link leads to a Madonna story.

Bad news. Deer eat Hydrangea.

--
Dan Espen

wrote:
Nad writes:

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

Warn us when a link leads to a Madonna story.

Oh the suspense

Bad news. Deer eat Hydrangea.

But humans can eat deer. I keep a few apple trees on the outer edge of my
property which I find keeps them from venturing and finding the main
garden.

--
Nad

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

I trim what few roses I have left about one foot above the ground and just
above a union.

I like Madonna's singing. However, I like hydrangeas much better than roses


Those here knows my views on roses...

--
Nad

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

what kind of roses?

if there is a graft union is the
damage all the way back to the graft?

i'd only trim off the stuff that is
obviously dead and let it go until
spring, then you can tell what is
alive and growing and shape the plant
further accordingly.


songbird

wrote:
....
Isn't the real issue the deer?

After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer,
I can tell you what works. Fences.

If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.

here we have combination of 7ft fences around
the veggie gardens and the hunters that thin
the herds that roam around.

i would fence the whole yard if it was set up
better for it.

6ft fence was not high enough.


songbird

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

songbird writes:

wrote:
...
Isn't the real issue the deer?

After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer,
I can tell you what works. Fences.

If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.

here we have combination of 7ft fences around
the veggie gardens and the hunters that thin
the herds that roam around.

i would fence the whole yard if it was set up
better for it.

6ft fence was not high enough.

Technically, I agree.

But in practice, it works.

I've read that most deer can clear 10 feet.

A mother deer with doe in tow is restricted to the height the
doe can clear.

Note that most of the area is heavily planted and there are lots of
overhead branches. The deer can't get near to the fence and see a
clear spot to land on the other side.

The fence has been up for 2 full seasons.

--
Dan Espen

On Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:17:53 -0400, wrote:

songbird writes:

wrote:
...
Isn't the real issue the deer?

After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer,
I can tell you what works. Fences.

If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.

here we have combination of 7ft fences around
the veggie gardens and the hunters that thin
the herds that roam around.

i would fence the whole yard if it was set up
better for it.

6ft fence was not high enough.

Technically, I agree.

But in practice, it works.

I've read that most deer can clear 10 feet.

A mother deer with doe in tow is restricted to the height the
doe can clear.

Note that most of the area is heavily planted and there are lots of
overhead branches. The deer can't get near to the fence and see a
clear spot to land on the other side.

The fence has been up for 2 full seasons.

I think you meant a mother deer with 'fawn' in tow... although
wherever there's a mother deer with fawns there is usually an aunt or
two nearby. I have herds of deer on my property, I can see about
twenty out there right now... I have 5' fences around my vegetable
garden and all my flower beds, during the ten years I've been here not
once has a deer jumped my fences... but they don't keep rabbits,
birds, moles, and several other critters out. To clear a 5' fence
they need a running start. Deer ain't so stupid as to jump into a
small fenced area that they can't get a running start to jump out, so
fencing an entire large property makes no sense unless the fence is
like ten feet high. It makes much more sense to fence just the small
areas. Also deer won't typically try to get to a fenced area if they
can forage elsewhere... if you live where it snows don't mow short
before winter sets in, deer will dig down to eat grass but they won't
touch the roots. Also it's a good idea to bring in a couple three
large round bales of hay, that will keep the deer (and other critters)
going until spring. In other words if you provide an easily
accessable source of food deer generally won't bother your plants. I
will never understand people who want to live in the country but hate
the critters... they shoulda stayed in their paved cities.