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rose root pruning

Hilary_15Hilary_15 Posts: 83
in Plants
I have Eustacia Vye in a large pot but this year it hasn't flowered as well as previous years despite being fed through the spring etc. It has been in this pot for around 3-4 years.  I was wondering if it would benefit from pruning the roots?  I have never done this before & would like some advice on how & when to do it.  If anyone can advise that would be great.

Posts

  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    edited July 2023
    It would benefit from de-potting, knocking off as much of the old potting soil as possible, root pruning then repotting in fresh soil, either in the same pot if it’s big enough or one size bigger. Theoretically you can do that anytime, but I would do it when dormant in winter/early spring - or at least not right in the middle of the growing season. You can then prune the top growth back by a third to a half at the same time, removing any dead, dying, diseased or crossing canes etc. With diligent watering and feeding that full makeover should keep it going another three years or more. I have a number of potted roses that need that treatment but it’s far too hot here to consider doing it anytime soon!

    PS - @Marlorena has a lot more experience of doing this than me and might be best placed to tell you how much to root prune. I think you can be fairly brutal and prune back the taproot a fair amount?
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    Yes, as Nollie said... it might not be necessary but you can shorten the fattest, longest root to fit.. leave all the rest if you can..
    Scrape off all old compost and repot with fresh, and away you go..
    East Anglia, England
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Also make sure it is repotted in substantial compost, a mix if JI3/MPC and maybe a bit of manure, and not just MPC.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Hilary_15Hilary_15 Posts: 83
    That's great.  Thanks everyone for your advice.  At least I can tackle this when the time comes knowing a bit more of what I'm doing.
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    My friend had some 3 year old badly planted DA shrub roses in pots which looked very sickly and performed very badly last year. They were planted too shallow (graft about 2" above soil level) and planted in thin MPC. They had never been fed and were not even watered that much despite the heat and drought.

    In January I repotted them into the same (rather nice) pots exactly as Nollie and Marlorena described. Trimming the fat roots so I could get the grafting point well below soil level, but leaving the fibrous feeder roots. The top growth was cut back really hard - down to just 3 canes / 25% length of the original. They were repotted in 50:50 John Innes No 3 and decent MPC. 

    We tickled in some rose food in March and have kept them watered.

    They are now 3 times the size they were last year, were covered in blooms in June, rebudding now and are generally very healthy. Incredibly forgiving of such extreme neglect. Your roses will do just fine🙂
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • Hilary_15Hilary_15 Posts: 83
    That's really encouraging, thank you
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