There are some roses that came with the house which have grown really
tall.
I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the lower parts
of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are hard woody and
totally without buds.
I've done some inexpert pruning and made them look worse.
How can I make them look better?

SimFan

On Wed, 30 Apr 2003 04:10:44 GMT, simfan
wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown really
tall.
I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the lower parts
of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are hard woody and
totally without buds.
I've done some inexpert pruning and made them look worse.
How can I make them look better?

SimFan

I had one like that in the corner of the yard. I took a saw to it and
cut it down to about 1 foot tall. After a few weeks, if that long, new
growth sprouted everywhere and it is now gorgeous.

wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown really
tall. I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the
lower parts of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are hard
woody and totally without buds. I've done some inexpert pruning and
made them look worse. How can I make them look better?

Depends on when the optimal pruning season is for your zone.
Rejuvenating an old plant is a project over two or three years. Depends
on what kind of rose and how old, tho. If it's less than five or six
years old, you can cut back some roses, like floribundas, to 12 inches
all in one fell swoop. You don't want to necessarily do that every year
or with every rose.

I look for the oldest cane. You want 4 or more from the base. If you
have lots of basals, then choose one with the weakest top growth,in the
most inconvenient, crowded location and with the most ugly, 90 degree
growth off of it and mark it for removal. I've removed single basals in
the middle of the season, after pruning time, with no ill effects.

This is most encouraging. I'd certainly give it a try. Thanks.

SF

jammer wrote:

On Wed, 30 Apr 2003 04:10:44 GMT, simfan
wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown really
tall.
I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the lower parts
of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are hard woody and
totally without buds.
I've done some inexpert pruning and made them look worse.
How can I make them look better?

SimFan

I had one like that in the corner of the yard. I took a saw to it and
cut it down to about 1 foot tall. After a few weeks, if that long, new
growth sprouted everywhere and it is now gorgeous.

Simfan,

I'm in Seattle. Our weather is essentially similar enough to yours for
rose-pruning purposes.
You can still prune now, you've got plenty of growing season left. And, if
you're fairly close-in in the city in Vancouver, your roses are not going to
get a winter hard cold that really makes them die back anyway. Go ahead and
prune again now if you need to, you're not going to hurt them unless you
really over-do it and shock them.

JimS.
Seattle


"simfan" wrote in message
...
I live in Vancouver, BC. Not really certain what's the optimum time for
pruning. Have you any idea?

The sun's come back, it's not really hot yet. It's 18 degrees Celsus out
in
the yard, and where the roses are there is no shade.

The few branches I pruned already had buds on them, and the new shoots
have
come out nicely, though.
Should I prune now?

SimFan

Cass wrote:

wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown really
tall. I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the
lower parts of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are hard
woody and totally without buds. I've done some inexpert pruning and
made them look worse. How can I make them look better?

Depends on when the optimal pruning season is for your zone.
Rejuvenating an old plant is a project over two or three years. Depends
on what kind of rose and how old, tho. If it's less than five or six
years old, you can cut back some roses, like floribundas, to 12 inches
all in one fell swoop. You don't want to necessarily do that every year
or with every rose.

I look for the oldest cane. You want 4 or more from the base. If you
have lots of basals, then choose one with the weakest top growth,in the
most inconvenient, crowded location and with the most ugly, 90 degree
growth off of it and mark it for removal. I've removed single basals in
the middle of the season, after pruning time, with no ill effects.

Thanks. I'll take advantage of the good weather and do it now.

I've posted a message in rec.gardens titled "Need help with yellow leaves
problem" which has got no response. Do you think you might help me out here,
too?

SF

"JimS." wrote:

Simfan,

I'm in Seattle. Our weather is essentially similar enough to yours for
rose-pruning purposes.
You can still prune now, you've got plenty of growing season left. And, if
you're fairly close-in in the city in Vancouver, your roses are not going to
get a winter hard cold that really makes them die back anyway. Go ahead and
prune again now if you need to, you're not going to hurt them unless you
really over-do it and shock them.

JimS.
Seattle

"simfan" wrote in message
...
I live in Vancouver, BC. Not really certain what's the optimum time for
pruning. Have you any idea?

The sun's come back, it's not really hot yet. It's 18 degrees Celsus out
in
the yard, and where the roses are there is no shade.

The few branches I pruned already had buds on them, and the new shoots
have
come out nicely, though.
Should I prune now?

SimFan

Cass wrote:

wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown really
tall. I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the
lower parts of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are hard
woody and totally without buds. I've done some inexpert pruning and
made them look worse. How can I make them look better?

Depends on when the optimal pruning season is for your zone.
Rejuvenating an old plant is a project over two or three years. Depends
on what kind of rose and how old, tho. If it's less than five or six
years old, you can cut back some roses, like floribundas, to 12 inches
all in one fell swoop. You don't want to necessarily do that every year
or with every rose.

I look for the oldest cane. You want 4 or more from the base. If you
have lots of basals, then choose one with the weakest top growth,in the
most inconvenient, crowded location and with the most ugly, 90 degree
growth off of it and mark it for removal. I've removed single basals in
the middle of the season, after pruning time, with no ill effects.

Sometimes yellow is from overwatering, sometimes it from iron deficiency.
Since roses are pretty much pigs, I'd bet you're not overwatering them
unless you're REALLY overdoing it. (Besides, if your rose can't take a lot
of water, it ain't never gonna be happy in our climate!). It's probably
iron deficiency. Buy some chelated iron. It's cheap, but go easy on it.
It's good for other plants too.

JimS.

"simfan" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I'll take advantage of the good weather and do it now.

I've posted a message in rec.gardens titled "Need help with yellow leaves
problem" which has got no response. Do you think you might help me out
here,
too?

SF

"JimS." wrote:

Simfan,

I'm in Seattle. Our weather is essentially similar enough to yours for
rose-pruning purposes.
You can still prune now, you've got plenty of growing season left. And,
if
you're fairly close-in in the city in Vancouver, your roses are not
going to
get a winter hard cold that really makes them die back anyway. Go ahead
and
prune again now if you need to, you're not going to hurt them unless you
really over-do it and shock them.

JimS.
Seattle

"simfan" wrote in message
...
I live in Vancouver, BC. Not really certain what's the optimum time
for
pruning. Have you any idea?

The sun's come back, it's not really hot yet. It's 18 degrees Celsus
out
in
the yard, and where the roses are there is no shade.

The few branches I pruned already had buds on them, and the new shoots
have
come out nicely, though.
Should I prune now?

SimFan

Cass wrote:

wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown
really
tall. I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the
lower parts of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are
hard
woody and totally without buds. I've done some inexpert pruning
and
made them look worse. How can I make them look better?

Depends on when the optimal pruning season is for your zone.
Rejuvenating an old plant is a project over two or three years.
Depends
on what kind of rose and how old, tho. If it's less than five or six
years old, you can cut back some roses, like floribundas, to 12
inches
all in one fell swoop. You don't want to necessarily do that every
year
or with every rose.

I look for the oldest cane. You want 4 or more from the base. If you
have lots of basals, then choose one with the weakest top growth,in
the
most inconvenient, crowded location and with the most ugly, 90
degree
growth off of it and mark it for removal. I've removed single basals
in
the middle of the season, after pruning time, with no ill effects.

In article , simfan
wrote:

Thanks. I'll take advantage of the good weather and do it now.

I've posted a message in rec.gardens titled "Need help with yellow leaves
problem" which has got no response. Do you think you might help me out here,
too?

What is the yellow leaves problem? A number of nutritional issues cause
yellowing, but each one is a bit different. Sometimes the new leaves
have a yellow tint with green veins. That's chlorosis. Sometimes the
bottom leaflets on a stem yellow and drop when the rose is in vigorous
growth mode.

Here are textual descriptions that make you into a hypochondriac:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/g...een/diagn.html

http://www.primalseeds.org/nutrients.htm

Thank you for the links. It seems likely problems are due to nitrogen and
molybdenum deficiency.
I'll start a photographic record immediately to diagnose.

What's a good simple organic way to neutralize acidic soil?

SF

Cass wrote:

In article , simfan
wrote:

Thanks. I'll take advantage of the good weather and do it now.

I've posted a message in rec.gardens titled "Need help with yellow leaves
problem" which has got no response. Do you think you might help me out here,
too?

What is the yellow leaves problem? A number of nutritional issues cause
yellowing, but each one is a bit different. Sometimes the new leaves
have a yellow tint with green veins. That's chlorosis. Sometimes the
bottom leaflets on a stem yellow and drop when the rose is in vigorous
growth mode.

Here are textual descriptions that make you into a hypochondriac:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/g...een/diagn.html

http://www.primalseeds.org/nutrients.htm

Guess whatever overwatering has been done by nature. I don't remember roses in
England having so many problems, not that I did the growing myself. Probably
there used to be more snow and less rain.

SF


"JimS." wrote:

Sometimes yellow is from overwatering, sometimes it from iron deficiency.
Since roses are pretty much pigs, I'd bet you're not overwatering them
unless you're REALLY overdoing it. (Besides, if your rose can't take a lot
of water, it ain't never gonna be happy in our climate!). It's probably
iron deficiency. Buy some chelated iron. It's cheap, but go easy on it.
It's good for other plants too.

JimS.

"simfan" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I'll take advantage of the good weather and do it now.

I've posted a message in rec.gardens titled "Need help with yellow leaves
problem" which has got no response. Do you think you might help me out
here,
too?

SF

"JimS." wrote:

Simfan,

I'm in Seattle. Our weather is essentially similar enough to yours for
rose-pruning purposes.
You can still prune now, you've got plenty of growing season left. And,
if
you're fairly close-in in the city in Vancouver, your roses are not
going to
get a winter hard cold that really makes them die back anyway. Go ahead
and
prune again now if you need to, you're not going to hurt them unless you
really over-do it and shock them.

JimS.
Seattle

"simfan" wrote in message
...
I live in Vancouver, BC. Not really certain what's the optimum time
for
pruning. Have you any idea?

The sun's come back, it's not really hot yet. It's 18 degrees Celsus
out
in
the yard, and where the roses are there is no shade.

The few branches I pruned already had buds on them, and the new shoots
have
come out nicely, though.
Should I prune now?

SimFan

Cass wrote:

wrote:

There are some roses that came with the house which have grown
really
tall. I believe they've not been pruned for a while, and now the
lower parts of the main stems, to the height of 2 to 3 feet, are
hard
woody and totally without buds. I've done some inexpert pruning
and
made them look worse. How can I make them look better?

Depends on when the optimal pruning season is for your zone.
Rejuvenating an old plant is a project over two or three years.
Depends
on what kind of rose and how old, tho. If it's less than five or six
years old, you can cut back some roses, like floribundas, to 12
inches
all in one fell swoop. You don't want to necessarily do that every
year
or with every rose.

I look for the oldest cane. You want 4 or more from the base. If you
have lots of basals, then choose one with the weakest top growth,in
the
most inconvenient, crowded location and with the most ugly, 90
degree
growth off of it and mark it for removal. I've removed single basals
in
the middle of the season, after pruning time, with no ill effects.

simfan wrote:

Thank you for the links. It seems likely problems are due to nitrogen and
molybdenum deficiency.

Most decent fertilizers with micro-nutrients have molybdenum. Home
Depot sells something called Dynamite. Gromore Rose Food has minors, I
think. Liquid kelp has lots of minors. At this time of year, with cool
soils, nitrogen is the most likely culprit.

I'll start a photographic record immediately to diagnose.

What's a good simple organic way to neutralize acidic soil?

How acid? If you're telling me you want to put lime on soil with a pH
of 6.5, I'm going to turn green. Those of us out in the alkaline west
would kill for that pH.

Here's a webpage on balancing pH:

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/soil_pH

Most of us make our soils more acidic by adding organic matter nitrogen
fertilizers. How much to add to change the pH is the question and often
involves a soil test.

Cass wrote:

In article , simfan
wrote:

Thanks. I'll take advantage of the good weather and do it now.

I've posted a message in rec.gardens titled "Need help with yellow leaves
problem" which has got no response. Do you think you might help me out
here,
too?

What is the yellow leaves problem? A number of nutritional issues cause
yellowing, but each one is a bit different. Sometimes the new leaves
have a yellow tint with green veins. That's chlorosis. Sometimes the
bottom leaflets on a stem yellow and drop when the rose is in vigorous
growth mode.

Here are textual descriptions that make you into a hypochondriac:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/g...een/diagn.html

http://www.primalseeds.org/nutrients.htm

The price I think I can pick it up and try a couple of cheap pond plant, because we have a very good place in the city water supply pool, and then upgrade is necessary. I think it probably has a fountain, but then I saw this, thought it might be more fun.

I really don't know much about rose gardening but I have roses in my house and I have lotus also in my pond. Its smells so nice gives really a new energy, so I think no roses are neglected.