7 Rules for Pruning Roses

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[KBorham]

A question/ comment about sealing freshly pruned canes: Cane borers have been a huge problem in my garden for years. I have been sealing the pruning cuts with woodworking glue and it doesn't work, they bore right through the glue. How can we prevent/ control cane borers in freshly spring- pruned canes?

[augustrob]

A family member has roses that haven't been maintained at all in the last three years. After watching this, I feel much more confident about tackling the problem. Your instructions are clear and concise, which I appreciate. Thank you.

[yoshshmenge]

The first rule for pruning roses is don’t touch the wife’s roses.

[kathycandee]

I'm just beginning with roses, so thanks so much for the pruning instructions. You make it look easy.

[stefs]

Thank you for simplifying! Ive let my rose get overgrown because I was too scared to cut it wrong but now I feel much more confident to give it a go😁

[shoosig]

I’m late to the party here- but have to say I’m happy to have found you. I inherited an entire yard of roses in Sweden and have been worried about how much to cut. Thank you for such clear and concise instructions.

[verenamaharajah]

Very well explained. I live in England and I always prune my roses between the last week of February and the first week of March. I deadhead regularly and feed twice a year with a granular rose food. I’ve had my roses for many years and they are beautiful every year. Many people think roses are hard work but I always tell people that’s not true.

[rebeccastewart]

This is the first time that I've watched a rose pruning video and will not have to keep rewatching and pausing it along with doing the job! So concise and clear - thanks for explaining some of those 'baffling' rules as well 😊

[flipfloppintexasgirl]

Thank you for explaining the science behind your teachings! It's great to know you've done your research.

[zeenat]

Hello, Now I listened again all important Rules which will help me every years. Thanks 🙏.

[delilahrainelle]

You have such a lovely place. The flowers make it look so cozy and inviting. I can just imagine the joy your roses bring. I came across your channel as I was looking to find someone who had the Pilgrim Climber. I have 2 that I will be planting very soon. Yours is gorgeous. I also love the color of your shutters. I have been wanting to paint my main entrance door with a similar color, but my son didn’t think it would look good on our home. After seeing your shutters, I am going to show him how pretty yours look.

I grew up in the mountains of Virginia on our family farm. I have so many wonderful memories of those times of working alongside my family whether it be in the fields or our vegetable gardens, but my favorite memories are of the times spent with my mama and grandma and their roses.

Many of the roses on our land had been planted by grandma as a young wife. She had planted rambling roses throughout the property. They grew wild and were huge and draped beautifully over the fencing in random areas. When the winters began to give way to spring, I always had a sense of overwhelming happiness. I knew the roses would follow and soon, masses of pink and white blooms just exploded everywhere. I remember lying in my bed and how strong and sweet their scent was and how that scent drifted through my open window.

On days that there was no school, I would grab a book or my guitar and set out to one particular rose bush that grew alongside a back meadow and just beyond an old mulberry tree. It was the grandest rambler of them all. That was probably due to a spring that ran very nearby. The new grass was thick and green and grew like a carpet around the bush. That bush had so many roses that I could have picked for days and never even made a dent it it. The roses hung in clusters and the way they tumbled over the fence, created a tunnel that I would crawl into. There was plenty of space to lay down or sit up comfortably and the roses were so thick that anyone passing by would never know you were there. As a matter of fact, I did hide there many times from my brothers. I had 5 of them and although I was a bit of a tomboy, I really liked being alone and that rambler provided the perfect place for me to go read, day dream, and pray. I had a lot of talks with God beneath that rose bush.

The ramblers, grandma let grow wild, but she and mama had rose bushes planted all around the house, pathways, and there was a long line of red ones that grew along both sides of our driveway. I never knew the official names of the roses, but we did give our roses names. For instance, Ms. Maddie, a friend of the family from Church gave us one of the prettiest shades of pink roses that I had ever seen. Most of our roses were white, red, or a darker pink, but the rose she gave us was rather dainty and shell pink. Anyway, we named that rose Ms. Maddie.

Grandma and mama taught me how to care for the roses, but I can honestly say that we did very little to them. We pruned them and fertilized them a couple times of year with manure from our barnyard. We did cut away some of the crossing branches, especially those on the inside. Grandma said that a rose bush needs to breathe and it is important that the air circulate through them. She also said that all plants need to be talked to. In fact, we talked to all of our plants. I know that might sound silly and like an old wives tale, but grandma said that talking to your plants was like talking to your children. She believed that just like talking to a child was part of nurturing and helping them to grow strong, talking had the same effect on roses and any other plant. I used to hear her talking to her indoor plants all the time and all of her plants were healthy. When I hear some of the so called, “experts” making such a fuss about how particular you must care for roses, it tires me. My mama and certainly my grandma didn’t have access to horticulturalists, but their roses were beautiful and as I grew older I learned that there is an actual science behind talking to your plants.

I truly believe that when it comes to roses a lot of rose lovers are afraid to grow them, because of what the experts say. They complicate things. In my opinion, roses are indeed exquisite. Their very appearance of such dainty, delicate petals is enough to make a beginner shy away from growing them, but they actually only require basic care. Sunshine, water, a little old fashioned manure from the barnyard and a good talking to and they will thrive.

My parents still live on the farm. A few of the older original roses died out naturally, but new shoots grew and replaced them. The place pretty much looks the same, but we have added so many new roses and we actually have a designated Rose Garden. Grandma passed, but we can take roses from bushes that she actually planted and grew.

I don’t have one particular company that I buy my roses from. I have bought a lot of healthy roses from Lowe’s and Home Depot. My goal has been to naturalize the area surrounding my own home and Knock Out Roses work really well for me. They grow very well in sun or shade and all I do is fertilize and prune them. Of course, in mid summer I usually have a problem with those pesky beetles, but I treat them just like I treat all of my roses. Knock Out Roses are not only beautiful, but they’re practical, extremely easy to grow and they bloom continuously from early April right through early November. They aren’t too expensive and using them helps cut down on the mowing, which my son really likes.

However, I do purchase the majority of my roses from David Austin and Jackson and Perkins. They are very nice to work with and their roses are always healthy and packaged well.

Your garden reminds me of my home as a child. It makes me homesick for those days. It is so beautiful. I hope you post more pictures. It looks so peaceful and inviting.

[tshaw]

Great video! I’m a newbie to growing roses and this answered a lot of my questions. 🙂

[Chillyseasonmymymy]

I've watched thousands of videos for rose plants! Most of them informative but confusing as well. Some contradict each other. After watching this video I got lots of useful tips actually. Thanks for your detailed work!

[misiwoohoo]

Great video, thank you for your expertise, look forward to more education.

[lanahattermann]

Wonderful, informative, and clear! Thank you for sharing your expertise! I’ve been growing roses for a couple of years and realized I needed more research to help them become the beautiful and healthy beings they are! You are a great teacher; bless you!

[broodge]

Thank you for taking the time to cover this so well. You present in a clear and comprehensive way. You also have a nice style of communicating.

[AlexaVyVy]

This video is very comprehensive and helpful. I've watched other rose pruning videos and like this one the most. Thank you for taking the time to record this.

[justynakwietniewska]

I got a little farm of roses.
I have to say I love your common sense.
Roses love to be treated with a clean tools as much they love to have clean area around them. 🦋🥇🌹

[pricedesign]

Thank you for the great informatIon. I just planted 5 new rose bushes so this will be very helpful!

[starshine]

Thank you! You've made the "rules" so simple, and put them all in one place!