Help Please

Hi again WOO. You said to prune again in again in march. I just wondered, why prune twice ? Cheers...freddy.

 

"why prune twice"

I prune quite a lot of things, and especially Roses, twice.

The Autumn prune gets rid of some of the bulk, reduces the amount "waving in the wind" which loosens the roots, and so on.

But winter frosts may kill the branches back a bit, so in the Autumn I have no idea where the rose will sprout from. In the Spring as soon as the buds start to fatten, or break, I can see what is going to grow and then prune to an outward facing bud - so that there is not too much growing into the middle of the bush.

This applies more to a bush, rather than a climber

 

Hi folks. Thanks for those great replies :thumb:

 

I agree WOO. The Autumn "thingie" is indeed a tidy-up (although I also think that reducing the bulk that catches the wind is important, so its not "just" cosmetic); and then I prune my roses to within an inch of their life in the Spring.

 

Just had a look at the spot you chose for the rose-it will be lovely there.

Woo-quick question-you say if you wish to grow as a climber then don`t prune-is that for the first few years? As I think I have told you I have a seagull rambler-that`s.....well it`s a bully. One year in, and it has already got a span of at this point easily 18/20 ft across. It does have a long wall to spread across and that is about a fifth of the wall. What sort of growth should I expect from it. I t has gone like the clappers but I presume it has a total expected growth.

 

I did not know about the goldfinches-how lovely. It was a good job I put it where I did or there could have been problems. I am now considering using one along with a banksia to climb the house-25ft-perfect!!

Incidentally, the branches were only 4 ft when I bought it! It must be able to sense I love it.

 

Hi WOO. Just to be clear, the climbing roses I planted over the winter will NOT need any pruning at all for a few years ? Cheers...freddy.

 

Ok WOO, gotcha. Thanks :thumb: