Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Cutting roses back

Katrina mgKatrina mg Posts: 17
in Problem solving
I have two roses still in flower with new buds as well should I cut them back or leave them until they finish. Katrina.

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Leave them.  The usual time to prune roses is early spring when you can see where the worst of any winter damage has happened and cut it out as well as shaping the plant for the new season's growth.  The only exception is cutting back any tall, whippy stems by a third to a half so the roots don't get disturbed by wind rock in winter gales.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Katrina mgKatrina mg Posts: 17
    Thanks Obelixx, I will leave them, they still look lovely. Katrina
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    I've cut mine down quite low except for the branches which still have flowers or flower buds on (yes there are still some).  I needed to do it otherwise my Corkscrew hazel is obscured by the rather ugly rose stems.

    I have mixed feelings about roses .. the blooms are amazing and frequent but everything else about them is horrid.  In particular getting scratched to buggery by the thorns whenever trying to work on the beds :-( 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    If you grow them well with good soil and regular feeding and plant perennials to cover their bare legs they can be the most stunning plants.  The trick is to have them as part of a whole and not the main or only item standing in bare soil.  Then they are indeed horrid but it's not their fault.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Katrina mgKatrina mg Posts: 17
    Many thanks to both jamesharcourt and obelixx, I’ll wait until flowers have faded then cut back the very tall stems back by half. These roses and three others are in a large round circle surrounded by box hedging, only done two years ago so it’s beginning to look as hoped it would.  Katrina
Sign In or Register to comment.