I like Zimmerman's animated delivery but I prefer to do my own thing with pruning and shaping, as it gets quite personal out there..
@JessicaS ... re your Rhapsody in Blue, I probably wouldn't be so severe as I enjoy some height in roses, and as it's bred on similar lines to 'Forever Royal' which I have shown above, then I'd probably follow the same path, so a reduction by about half would do for me.. ..I have 2 Wild Rover's, it is black spot prone, but it's a rose I cannot be without.. I'll post some more information on it later, after I've done the pruning..
@Lizzie27 ..your Ispahan is problematic for you, so obviously best to just do what you can in that situation without stressing too much... as it's a once bloomer I prefer to prune immediately after flowering, about mid / late July time, and then leave it.. it's really best as a freestanding shrub and does not need any support apart from pegging..
I've just finished 'Kew Gardens'... this is a rose that can be grown in a pot or kept short, but I like mine as a large shrub/small climber, as it has to compete and merge with a large vigorous pink climbing rose directly above... so I need a height and width of about 6 x 6 come next May/June.. when they are both in flower..
...before.. ...after... I have defoliated it, cut out all thin wispy shoots but kept the height and width.. any diseased bits removed... tied back to the support with fresh string... it has beautiful spring foliage, and starts quite early... ...so it should look like this again next May..
@Marlorena I'll do that then thats great, half works! Noted on rover, ill watch out for spot. The colour looks beautiful. That kew gardens and pink combo is stunning! Is that a couple of obelisks under there? I love the shape with the pink arching over and white underneath.
@JessicaS ...thanks,.. well it's metal trellis that forms an enclosure... rather a lot of roses on it at various points...
.. I'll just post a few more pruning pics to finish, I have an obelisk rose to show later, but the rest will wait until Feb. due to hips forming..
... 'Wild Rover'.. I do get annoyed with Beales as they describe this as ''little or no fragance'' which totally undersells it.. to my nose it's strongly fragrant of spicy cloves or cinnamon, even now I've just taken the last bloom off and still a nice scent to it.. ..it's on a small arch, very suitable for the purpose, tops out at about 8 feet.. I also have honeysuckle and clematis which is a bit much, so one of those might go.. ..the canes are quite stiff but it's trainable, kept close to the support.. ... it sets hips and I've grown one from seed, they germinate well, but I didn't keep the rose.. ...before.. ..after.. mostly defoliated, and pruned back to dormant buds.. height about 6.5 feet.. ...the foliage is large, glossy and leathery.. ...an earlier photo when growing on wood supports..
'Blush Noisette'... this was cut down to ground level last winter, but recovered to 5 x 5 feet... I need to keep it under control as it will grow again to at least 6 x 6 or larger by next summer.. ..I had to use loppers and a saw to cut out some dead stumps.. ..now a compact 4 x 2 feet for the winter.. this rose can be pruned anytime as it's continuous bloom and soon recovers... do whatever you want with it, essentially.. ..I've just done these 2 potted Hybrid Tea roses, both grow to about 4 feet or so by summer.. 'Donatella'.. pruned to about 1 foot.. due to be repotted.. 'Pink Martini'.. due to be planted out from this pot..
...that's it for now... thanks for checking these out, hope it was useful in some way..
Thanks again @Marlorena . Very useful pruning pictures. I see you have a clematis with Rose. When do you prune the clematis? I haven't planted any clematis with rose as I was confused how to prune and how will I untangle clematis from rose.
@newbie77 ... that clematis is a gr. 2.. I've never pruned it, but I might do so next summer.. it's across the top of the arch now.. it depends on the clematis and what I'm trying to achieve.... I have a gr. 3 on opposite side which I've just cut down to almost ground level, something that's usually done in February, but I start early... ..things do get tangled up a bit ..
...stick to gr. 2's if you want a quiet life, although they are prone to wilt.. a good one that's never wilted for me is 'Star of India'.. it's really good..
Well, I had a go at pruning my Ispahan. Even standing on the top of my small stepladder, it was a stretch, more like 8ft high. It now looks rather shorn and bare so hope I haven't over done it (sorry Marlorena). Took 2 hours to do and now I've got a big mound of debris to get rid off. The birds won't be pleased either as they've lost their cover on the bird feeders from the west winds. Hey ho, it will either survive or not. Checked my Peter Harkness book which says it grows to approx 5 x 4 ft - huh, I was rather misled there.
Interestingly, the book also states in it's History of Roses front section that roses grow more thorns/prickles in periods of drought probably as a moisture saving strategy. It also stated that deep yellow roses are found growing in the wild only in Asia, deep red roses are found growing wild only in China and roses that keep flowering all through summer into autumn are all found in eastern regions of Asia. Fascinating.
Posts
@JessicaS
... re your Rhapsody in Blue, I probably wouldn't be so severe as I enjoy some height in roses, and as it's bred on similar lines to 'Forever Royal' which I have shown above, then I'd probably follow the same path, so a reduction by about half would do for me..
..I have 2 Wild Rover's, it is black spot prone, but it's a rose I cannot be without.. I'll post some more information on it later, after I've done the pruning..
@Lizzie27
..your Ispahan is problematic for you, so obviously best to just do what you can in that situation without stressing too much... as it's a once bloomer I prefer to prune immediately after flowering, about mid / late July time, and then leave it.. it's really best as a freestanding shrub and does not need any support apart from pegging..
...before..
...after... I have defoliated it, cut out all thin wispy shoots but kept the height and width.. any diseased bits removed... tied back to the support with fresh string... it has beautiful spring foliage, and starts quite early...
...so it should look like this again next May..
That kew gardens and pink combo is stunning! Is that a couple of obelisks under there? I love the shape with the pink arching over and white underneath.
...thanks,.. well it's metal trellis that forms an enclosure... rather a lot of roses on it at various points...
.. I'll just post a few more pruning pics to finish, I have an obelisk rose to show later, but the rest will wait until Feb. due to hips forming..
... 'Wild Rover'..
I do get annoyed with Beales as they describe this as ''little or no fragance'' which totally undersells it.. to my nose it's strongly fragrant of spicy cloves or cinnamon, even now I've just taken the last bloom off and still a nice scent to it..
..it's on a small arch, very suitable for the purpose, tops out at about 8 feet.. I also have honeysuckle and clematis which is a bit much, so one of those might go..
..the canes are quite stiff but it's trainable, kept close to the support..
... it sets hips and I've grown one from seed, they germinate well, but I didn't keep the rose..
...before..
..after.. mostly defoliated, and pruned back to dormant buds.. height about 6.5 feet..
...the foliage is large, glossy and leathery..
...an earlier photo when growing on wood supports..
..I had to use loppers and a saw to cut out some dead stumps..
..now a compact 4 x 2 feet for the winter.. this rose can be pruned anytime as it's continuous bloom and soon recovers... do whatever you want with it, essentially..
..I've just done these 2 potted Hybrid Tea roses, both grow to about 4 feet or so by summer..
'Donatella'.. pruned to about 1 foot.. due to be repotted..
'Pink Martini'.. due to be planted out from this pot..
...that's it for now... thanks for checking these out, hope it was useful in some way..
Today's rose posy:
Clockwise from left: Tess of the urbervilles, Lady of Shalott, Crocus, Queen of Sweden, Darcey Bussel with Munstead Wood on top.
Thanks again @Marlorena . Very useful pruning pictures. I see you have a clematis with Rose. When do you prune the clematis? I haven't planted any clematis with rose as I was confused how to prune and how will I untangle clematis from rose.
... that clematis is a gr. 2.. I've never pruned it, but I might do so next summer.. it's across the top of the arch now.. it depends on the clematis and what I'm trying to achieve.... I have a gr. 3 on opposite side which I've just cut down to almost ground level, something that's usually done in February, but I start early...
..things do get tangled up a bit ..
...stick to gr. 2's if you want a quiet life, although they are prone to wilt.. a good one that's never wilted for me is 'Star of India'.. it's really good..
Checked my Peter Harkness book which says it grows to approx 5 x 4 ft - huh, I was rather misled there.
Interestingly, the book also states in it's History of Roses front section that roses grow more thorns/prickles in periods of drought probably as a moisture saving strategy. It also stated that deep yellow roses are found growing in the wild only in Asia, deep red roses are found growing wild only in China and roses that keep flowering all through summer into autumn are all found in eastern regions of Asia. Fascinating.