Same at Peter Beales roses in Norfolk @Allotment Boy. Thousands of roses to prune - no way they can do them over an 'ideal' 4 week period.
I think they did say they wouldn't prune during the sort of spell we had 2 or 3 weeks ago when there was thick frost and ice for nearly 10 days solid (daytime temps didn't get above 0C) - but they wouldn't worry about those they'd done in the days leading up to it and would have started again soo afterwards.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Ive got a huge Albertine; its fine to prune now, it behaves like a climber in that regard and also flowers on new growth so should still flower fine, ive pruned mine at this time many times before, still flowers prolifically. It grows quickly too. Be careful its wickedly big thorns and vicious!
Sounds like I should go for it. I prune most of my roses throughout th e year, taking off the stem of a gone over rose down to the next bud facing in the right direction but I was a bit nervous about doing a much needed hard prune. Thank you all for your advice.
It seems most places still suggest winter pruning and perhaps it's some more modern thinking that is suggesting a slightly different regime.
The point I was trying to make was to just go for it now in one hit. The classic reccomended thing was to do a light prune in late autumn early winter "to prevent problems with wind rock" Then to hard prune in late winter. I probably wasn't be very clear but people with large numbers to prune , like big formal gardens or growers, say they don't have time for this two step approach, they start pruning in November and continue to March, they do it all at once. It works well for them.
@thevictorian I think Jason’s videos are brilliant, but I wouldn’t say he is ‘more modern’ or that he necessarily suggests different pruning regimes. But one should, if possible, time the annual winter prune (for repeat flowering roses and/or those that bloom on new wood - i.e most modern varieties and some old ones) according to your climate. His rose farm may be in the pacific northwest, but he sells to other regions of Canada that have far more severe winters than him, the UK and most of Europe. He also sells own-root bands (small cuttings) and not roses grafted onto a hardy laxa rootstock like ours. Bands need more coddling in the first few years and a hard winter prune might just kill them off in colder areas.
Fortunately most of the UK has a wide window in terms of the annual prune - anytime from November to March. For harsher climates, including the far north of the UK, it’s prudent to delay annual pruning until Spring. Too early in areas with very cold winters encourages new growth that can then be blackened by frost and risks significant cane dieback. Summer pruning only is required for some rose classes like once-bloomers, but most repeaters can also be pruned to a certain extent anytime over summer to keep them in shape and deadheading encourage more blooms.
The renovation pruning that B3 wants to do is rather different to the usual annual prune but still ideal to do in winter when the climbing framework of the rose is exposed and it is not in active growth.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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I think they did say they wouldn't prune during the sort of spell we had 2 or 3 weeks ago when there was thick frost and ice for nearly 10 days solid (daytime temps didn't get above 0C) - but they wouldn't worry about those they'd done in the days leading up to it and would have started again soo afterwards.
GW still suggests winter pruning for climbers, as does the rhs
https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-prune-a-climbing-rose/
Fortunately most of the UK has a wide window in terms of the annual prune - anytime from November to March. For harsher climates, including the far north of the UK, it’s prudent to delay annual pruning until Spring. Too early in areas with very cold winters encourages new growth that can then be blackened by frost and risks significant cane dieback. Summer pruning only is required for some rose classes like once-bloomers, but most repeaters can also be pruned to a certain extent anytime over summer to keep them in shape and deadheading encourage more blooms.
The renovation pruning that B3 wants to do is rather different to the usual annual prune but still ideal to do in winter when the climbing framework of the rose is exposed and it is not in active growth.