Wild Rose - losing new shoots

I have a wild rose in my garden which I cut back really hard this year as it was getting extremely leggy (it's not been pruned before). The main trunk is nearly 2 inches in diameter.

It's put out a lot of new shoots over the past few months and looks very healthy (except for a bit of blackfly which I've recently sprayed with Rose Clear Ultra), but I'm finding that some of these new shoots are dropping off at times. They are often a few inches long when this happens. It must have dropped about seven or eight in the past couple of months although thankfully it does have quite a few left.

An animal can't be responsible as it has a circle of wire around it (unless a rat or a bird is doing this).

I'm sure it's not due to wind either as it's in quite a sheltered location. There also aren't any plants or trees nearby which could foul on any of the new shoots.

Assuming it's an issue with the plant, what could be causing the new shoots to drop off? This is happening at the very base of each shoot where it's connected to the main trunk (or one of the other lower branches).

Thanks

 

Lack of water perhaps? There hasn't been a lot of rain throughout and since last winter.

 

Could be, but there's been a fair amount of rain in my area (on and off) in the past couple of weeks and some shoots have still dropped off. Now that it's generally wetter I'll keep an eye on the plant and see if any more drop off - let's hope not.

Thanks for your idea.

 

A fair bit of rain doesn't necessarily give the plant a good soaking. Quite often it only penetrates the top few inches of soil. I'd give it a few gallons of water so that it reaches the roots.

 

Thanks, will do.

 

A bit of an update on this - the plant has now how a few gallons of water applied to it. A couple of hours later I noticed that one of the new shoots (about 6 inches long) had wilting leaves. On checking the base where it connects to the main trunk it was found to be loose and easily came off in my hands. I definitely didn't knock it when watering.

I'm now wondering if only the shoots on the main thicker trunk are coming off (I didn't take much notice before) as the secondary branches appear to be have all of their new shoots still attached.

 

So it would seem it's not a water issue. That leaves pests, disease or age. Is there a chance you can provide us with photo's MadHedger? Including a shot of the base please.

 

No sign of pests (a little blackfly at times, but not much) or disease, the growth looks very healthy.

Could be age I guess, it must have been there for well over 15 years.

I'm still wondering about a possible lack of water issue - perhaps it can't supply enough water to all of the new shoots (of which there are plenty) and some don't get enough so start to wilt and drop off? Then again, if that was the case surely there would be signs of wilting all over the plant?

I wasn't aware of any problems with it before I mercilessly pruned it a few months ago - prior to the pruning the main trunk was about six feet long and had bent over in a large arc, hence why I pruned it (down to ten six inches or so of main trunk and a few lower branches). Then again, it was so leggy and bushy before the pruning that if it had lost some shoots I wouldn't have noticed.

Remember that this is the first time it has been pruned for 15 years or more, so maybe it just can't handle putting out to many new shoots and so is "losing" some to keep the others going?

Will try and get some photos taken.

 

No photos yet I'm afraid but I think I've figured out why the bush is losing shoots - it's the wind! Today it's been very windy and a grand total of six new shoots have been lost. Some of these shoots were over a foot long. I'm rather annoyed.

They are breaking off at the "join" where they have grown out from the trunk.

I've now put in canes and tied the remaining shoots to them.

However, should they break off so easily?

Also, once the new growth starts to harden off in the autumn and winter will that strengthen the part where it's currently breaking off?

Thanks

 

It's unusual to lose new growth on a mature rose because of the wind. If it was gale force then I would expect some damage but not the amount you speak of. It may have gone into shock because of the hard prune which would account for the stem/leaf loss and needs time to recover.

I think the best course for you to take right now is to leave it alone until next Spring apart from watering during long dry spells. Don't worry about any further stem loss as it may be going into dormant mode because of shock. Being a mature plant there's a possibility you may lose it but I believe at this point it is just in recovery and will bounce back next Spring.

 

That sounds very possible, I'll take note of your advice and do as you say.

Assuming it does bounce back, should it be pruned again early next year?

I forgot to say - two of the longer, more established (and still intact!) shoots have good sized flower buds forming. They'll probably open in a week or two.

 

Wild roses should really be left to do their own thing and shouldn't be treated like a garden rose that is pruned regularly. On that basis having pruned it heavily and needing time to recover I'd leave it to re-establish itself at least for a year. As an older rose it may not withstand another shock to it's system.

It's encouraging to hear it has buds, let's hope it makes a full recovery.

 

I'm training mine at the moment, the new shoots I'm bending over, this will produce the off shoots to grow upwards and fill a bigger space also encouraging more flowers (from what I've read)

I agree with S that they should really be left alone, but I only have a small garden and want a flower in every part of it.