Cass wrote:

In article , Regina
wrote:

Cass wrote:

Regina wrote:

Cut back harder! I know
I need to cut back harder.

I BR'd Pierre de Ronsard and left the canes about 3 feet, and it's
doing fine too. BR'd 2 Westerlands, one cut the canes back to 15
inches, one with canes cut back to 24 inches. All fine.

Fine like strong new basals? (photo?) See, that's what I want, a
little urban renewal.

Sure, I'll take pix a little later in the day.

Cool.

Fine as in didn't die,
now leafing out and growing new basals.

I love new basals, once they've survived the life threats of hard
freeze, wind and dogs.

And I am finding that once that is done, they need less and less time
from me, which then of course fully justifies adding more roses. Here's
a zen question for you - can one aspire to be Mack and not prune?

One can, but some roses like the abuse.

The question is, which ones, and how often? Not yearly, surely?

Dainty Bess clung to her wood today like a mother to her child. And so
did Mister Lincoln, where I'm cutting two feet over my head. Mrs.
Oakley Fisher told me I could only cut off her split ends, then sent me
packing.

Regina