desperation pruning
 

Well, I've hacked off most of the near-bare branches on my
flooded roses and cut the rest short; on the bushes I pretty much
ripped out of the mud and re-planted on mounds of purchased
compost/dirt mix I did the same, and...

It's working! On some bushes. So far.

I'm getting strong new shoots on the Heritage and several others,
mostly grafted Austins. The Gertrude Jekyll, which I think is
own-root, hasn't responded yet, but as it had lost most of its leaves
due to being untimely ripp'd from the wet, I figure I have nothing to
lose by making the top match the roots in size.

Fortunately, tropical storm Henri fizzled and I got about an inch or
two of rain rather than five inches.

My tractor (wee 16hp Kubota) is stuck in the mud, and, sadly, so is
my car (on a trip to pull out the tractor), but at least I'm getting more
survivor roses than I'd hoped for.

Mark., the tow truck guy refused to risk getting his truck stuck too

desperation pruning
 

In article , Mark. Gooley
wrote:


My tractor (wee 16hp Kubota) is stuck in the mud, and, sadly, so is
my car (on a trip to pull out the tractor), but at least I'm getting more
survivor roses than I'd hoped for.

Now we're talking. Kubota. So did you use a backhoe to dig rose holes?
or a post hole digger?

I know you're mounding now, but I'm in the market to bury a bunch of
plants, and I'm tractor shopping. I'm looking at a real-sized tractor,
since a pretty standard model comes back from the grape harvest leases
at a decent price.

desperation pruning
 

"Shiva" wrote:
Mark. Gooley wrote:

Well, I've hacked off most of the near-bare branches on my
flooded roses and cut the rest short; on the bushes I pretty much
ripped out of the mud and re-planted on mounds of purchased
compost/dirt mix I did the same, and...

Why are you hacking up your roses?

Okay. I planted them in what's now the wet, and on the survivors
much of the top growth has lost leaves or died outright. People
have reminded me that severe pruning is a good idea if the root
system of a rose has been damaged or is about to be. The wet
seems to have caused some of the roots to rot away, which is causing
the tops to die off (presumably the roots can't support them)...so I've
been pruning back the tops in the hope that the bushes will endure
until they can grow new roots.

I've also dug up a few bushes planted in the wet and re-planted them
in raised mounds. Removing some top growth to match the roots
lost to rot or to digging seems to be helping in some cases.

Mark., who knows

desperation pruning
 

Mark. Gooley wrote:


Why are you hacking up your roses?

Okay. I planted them in what's now the wet, and on the survivors
much of the top growth has lost leaves or died outright. People
have reminded me that severe pruning is a good idea if the root
system of a rose has been damaged or is about to be. The wet
seems to have caused some of the roots to rot away, which is causing
the tops to die off (presumably the roots can't support them)...so I've
been pruning back the tops in the hope that the bushes will endure
until they can grow new roots.

Ahhh! I see. Sounds like a good idea. I asked because hard pruning seems
to be the answer to every problem to some folks, and I disagree. But in
this case it sounds quite reasonable.


Keep us posted on the results.