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is it ok to cut back in oct?

susananwmssusananwms Posts: 213
in Plants
I have a Dublin Bay and a Compassion rose which I planted the bare root last Nov and both have flowered very well.  The Compassion especially has grown a bit too much, its a monster
I am having a gardener come this month to help me sort the garden ready for Winter.  I planted too many things and my garden is starting to look a bit like a jungle so things have to be cut back
I read that roses should be cut back in early Spring but the guy that is coming said that it would be ok to do in Oct, is this true?  At the moment because of the mild weather they are still growing and flowering, there are many buds yet to open whether they will manage to do so before cold weather comes I do not know
Should I let him cut them or not?

Posts

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    I think your roses will be fine if they need to be tidied up now. I quite often cut my roses back a bit in autumn (especially new ones) so they aren't affected too much by wind rock over the winter. I then do a proper pruning job in spring.

    Our local rose 'expert' prunes all his climbing roses in autumn so he's not trampling over  bulbs and other emerging growth to get to the back of the border in spring.

    When I chatted to somebody at Peter Beales roses they said they start pruning roses in autumn and prune right through the winter and into spring. They have so many roses they just can't just tackle all of them in spring. The only time they don't prune is if a sharp frost is forecast for the next couple of nights.

    Hope that reassures you🙂
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • susananwmssusananwms Posts: 213
    Thanks for your reply.  I am so glad that it is ok to do now as they are really intruding into everything else.  Going to dig a few things up too so will give everything else more room
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I lightly prune mine all through the year. DB definitely benefits from dead heading, and when it's established needs to have manners put on it throughout the growing season or you'll have vertical twelve foot high branches. I exaggerate not!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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