OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now?
We missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a
third or so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too
frosty to do anything. Now the temperatures are reliably above
freezing, should we do a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do
the lot then?

We're in Blackheath, London, quite high and colder than central London
but warmer than the countryside.

--
Kate B

PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne dot org dot uk if you
want to reply personally

On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:54:29 +0000, Kate Brown
wrote:

OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now?
We missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a
third or so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too
frosty to do anything. Now the temperatures are reliably above
freezing, should we do a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do
the lot then?

I would prune them now quite happily and take them down another 2
inches in February.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹

In article ,
says...
OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now?
We missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a
third or so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too
frosty to do anything. Now the temperatures are reliably above
freezing, should we do a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do
the lot then?

We're in Blackheath, London, quite high and colder than central London
but warmer than the countryside.


The ran a series of Trials down here in the 1980's at Probus gardens and
discovered it made no difference at all when you pruned roses or indeed
how you pruned roses (using a hege cutting produced the most flowers!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

The message
from Kate Brown contains these words:

OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now?
We missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a
third or so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too
frosty to do anything. Now the temperatures are reliably above
freezing, should we do a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do
the lot then?

We're in Blackheath, London, quite high and colder than central London
but warmer than the countryside.

Depending on type of growth, I take my roses down to six inches every
few years.

Obviously, you don't do that to standards, but bush, climbing and
rambling roses can be cut down a long way, just so long as a good length
of grafted wood is left on the rootstock, if there is one.

I did a bit of gardening for someone locally and she was really
distressed by my treatment of her straggly roses - she had never pruned
them.

Next summer she was delighted...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

In article ,
Rusty_Hinge wrote:

Depending on type of growth, I take my roses down to six inches every
few years.

Some roses are on their own roots and sucker from the base. Those
are best pruned like blackcurrants! But clearly you need to check
whether they are that type before doing it.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Jan 18, 2:29*pm, Rusty_Hinge
wrote:
The message
from Kate Brown contains these words:

OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now?
We missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a
third or so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too
frosty to do anything. *Now the temperatures are reliably above
freezing, should we do a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do
the lot then?
We're in Blackheath, London, quite high and colder than central London
but warmer than the countryside.

Depending on type of growth, I take my roses down to six inches every
few years.

Obviously, you don't do that to standards, but bush, climbing *and
rambling roses can be cut down a long way, just so long as a good length
of grafted wood is left on the rootstock, if there is one.

I did a bit of gardening for someone locally and she was really
distressed by my treatment of her straggly roses - she had never pruned
them.

Next summer she was delighted...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Thanks Rusty, this is what I do to mine, although at the moment, I
can't get down the back garden. My ramblers have been blown onto the
winding path. We have gales here, so I expect I should leave very
well alone until later?

Judith

"Kate Brown" wrote in message
...
OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now? We
missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a third or
so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too frosty to do
anything. Now the temperatures are reliably above freezing, should we do
a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do the lot then?

We're in Blackheath, London, quite high and colder than central London but
warmer than the countryside.

--
Kate B

I actually pruned mine yesterday - didn't get the chance to do them before
Christmas, but with the warning of the gales I decided that I didn't want
them blowing around and damaging the roots (they were 1.5 metres high). Took
them down to 18 inches and they are not moving in the wind any more. Will
take them down again at the start of March, shaping them and removing
obviously dead or straggly wood as I go. I've never had a problem with
pruning my HT roses since I planted them three years ago, so long as it is
done the first time after most of the leaves have dropped and the second
time just as the buds start to swell. But between the two, apply plenty of
blood, fish and bone and cover with organic matter - making sure that the
scion is covered to ward off suckering. And as soon as the buds start to
swell, start the routine of spraying against blackspot (they usually have
greenfly in residence by this point also!)

On Sun, 18 Jan 2009, Kase wrote

"Kate Brown" wrote in message
...
OK, this is such an iggerant question but is it OK to prune roses now? We
missed pruning them in November, when we usually take them down a third or
so (then another prune in Feb/March), and then it was too frosty to do
anything. Now the temperatures are reliably above freezing, should we do
a bit of pruning, or wait till February and do the lot then?

We're in Blackheath, London, quite high and colder than central London but
warmer than the countryside.

--
Kate B

I actually pruned mine yesterday - didn't get the chance to do them before
Christmas, but with the warning of the gales I decided that I didn't want
them blowing around and damaging the roots (they were 1.5 metres high). Took
them down to 18 inches and they are not moving in the wind any more. Will
take them down again at the start of March, shaping them and removing
obviously dead or straggly wood as I go. I've never had a problem with
pruning my HT roses since I planted them three years ago, so long as it is
done the first time after most of the leaves have dropped and the second
time just as the buds start to swell. But between the two, apply plenty of
blood, fish and bone and cover with organic matter - making sure that the
scion is covered to ward off suckering. And as soon as the buds start to
swell, start the routine of spraying against blackspot (they usually have
greenfly in residence by this point also!)


There are greenfly in residence already...
quite a lot are frozen, though!

Thanks to you and everyone else for the reassurance - will get out at
the next opportunity and hack away.


--
Kate B

PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne dot org dot uk if you
want to reply personally