Tidying roses - cut new growth in the summer?

Hi all,
I have been revitalising some roses over the last few years and finally have some blooms on a rambler and - I think - Polyanthia roses (small, multiheaded ones).

The rambler has more or less finished flowering and the polyanthia is in full flight. Both have also thrown up long stems of new growth that don't have any buds on them.

I would like to lop them off because they make the place look untidy, but I know that they flower on new growth. I'm desperate to encourage more blooms every year, but confused as to whether or not to tidy, cut these shoots off, or whether to leave them until pruning season?

What's the best approach?
Thanks!

 

I prune my roses all through the summer. I know it's frowned upon by the experts but it works fine for me.

 

And do you get a good flush of flowers every year?

you’re just pruning the new growth I take it?

 

Yes to both
I prune my Arthur Bells and Margaret Merrills after flowering and some others I don't know the name of and they flower again within a few weeks. It might not work for all types. I'm no expert.
Why don't you post the names of your roses and you'll get better advice than I can offer?

 

Hiya. Afraid I don’t know - we inherited them with the house!

Here’s some pictures of the flowers and examples of offending growth!

 

I'd just snip them off.

 

Hello..

Ok, your photos are very small and I can hardly see them, need better pics, but from what I can make out..
Photo 1 with the reddish flowers.. a modern ground cover rose, possibly Pink Flower Carpet or 'Knockout'..
You can prune this as much as you want as it will repeat flower all the time.

Photo 2 with the white flower. This may be a sucker from the rootstock but I can't see the leaves properly, you need to supply a closer and larger photo of that.

Photo 3.. the long stem coming up from the red rose.. This may be a sucker, but I notice it has thorns, so could be a basal growth from the rose itself. Can't tell as it's not close enough to see.
Need better pic. If the leaves are identical to the red rose, then it's not a sucker and you can just prune it back to shape.

Photo 4.. this is definitely a sucker from the rootstock and should be cut out right at the base.

..good luck !..

 

This is so helpful Mrs Hillard!
First day on the forum and I've increased my knowledge ten fold!

I didn't actually know the concept of suckers until you said that - man alive, I've been tying in suckers for a year in the belief that they were rambling roses that would give me an amazing bloom at some point!

I'm now confident that that the whole mass is suckers coming from another plant - Another pic here. Deffo? They've got hardly any thorns and typically seven segments to the leaf.

The ones coming up from the carpet roses I'm less confident of. The leaves look really similar and they've very thorny. Another pic - what do you reckon?


This is the mass of suckers coming out from the root that I thought was a rambler!



This is the main carpet rose, no suckers




Is this a sucker?

 

Ok, we mustn't be too hasty here. First of all, the last picture, that is not a sucker, that's all part of your rose. Up to you whether you prune it back or not.

In your first photo above, I need to see the leaves and compare them with the host plant. A few stems are not enough to be sure there. Lots of roses have 7 leaves, it doesn't always mean they are suckers. Do you have the name of this rambler? Can you show me a photo of the blooms at all? Rambling roses send up many shoots from the base at this time of year, so we cannot assume they're all suckers until we see the foliage.

 

The plot thickens! Thanks so much, I'm very grateful!

Sadly, no name for any of them. There's some that are clearly suckers, coming from the same root stock as the main plant, but very different leaves and flowers.

But, there's a cluster of others that seem to come from a second root, but I'm not confident that it's a second plant and not just a well established sucker - is that even possible?

The leaves and flowers from the sucker and the this plant are all the same.

The garden was very overgrown when we started - I literally took a saw to the greenery at the start of the summer one year and have been editing what has come back every since!

Some more pictures ---




This is the bloom that's currently on one of the plants




Here is the main rose - I can tell what is a sucker coming from this one: the cheecky chappy to the right of the pic.




Here are the two roots - the one on the top of the picture is holding the main plant and has suckers coming off it. The one at the bottom is close to the other - 15cm or so? Last year, I picked the most prolific growth and tied it in to a fence thinking that it would be a rambler and was starting to train. All the blooms have come from growth off that stalk.....

It sounds like it is a sucker that I've encouraged to grow, right?!

 

Ok, the first photo with the white flower, that's all suckering growth in that picture.

2nd photo, yes the stem on the right is also a sucker.

I can't make out what's going on in photo 3.. someone has pruned all the growth down to a stump. If that was mine I'd be digging the whole lot out rather than worrying about whether it's a sucker or not, and plant something I really like in its place - not a rose.

However, if you want to keep it, I'm not certain that shoot with reddish leaves is a sucker at this stage, show another photo when the leaves turn green.
Do you know for sure whether that rose is still alive? [apart from the suspected suckers]..

I've just enlarged that picture and believe it's all suckering growth around that stump.. honestly, I'd just get rid of it, personally.

 

Hey, thanks!
Yeah, that rose still has a good growth - seems like it’s on top of a second crown.

Interesting - why would you not replace with another rose?

 

Replacing a rose with another rose, or in fact anything in the rosaceae family, can lead to rose replant disease. You have to replace the soil with fresh, or take other precautions.
If you're not planning on a replacement then it's not something you need worry over at this stage. As a collector, in my garden it's difficult to avoid it as I don't always take the trouble I should.

Best of luck with your roses..