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Rose Hip Advice

RM98RM98 Posts: 43
in Plants
Evening all,

When we moved into our house in late summer, the rose hips below looked lovely and plentiful. This picture was taken late November as they were fading. Right now, those that are left on the bush are all black and shrivelled and I just wondered what I should do - is it best to snip them off? Or prune the whole thing instead?

Any advice would be much appreciated.


Posts

  • clematisdorsetclematisdorset Posts: 1,348
    I was wondering if the wildlife and birds were enjoying the hips yet? Do you know what sort of rose it is? I am sure you will get more replies tomorrow. Not all roses develop those lovely red hips. It probably doesn't matter if you leave them on, but rose experts on here might have a more informed view!
    Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus 
  • RM98RM98 Posts: 43
    Good point about it providing food for wildlife and no idea what sort of rose it is unfortunately!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wouldn't worry. No matter how hungry birds are, and no matter how many of them there are [birds] there will often be fruits which get missed and then rot. It's still only the beginning of February too.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • RM98RM98 Posts: 43
    Fairygirl said:
    I wouldn't worry. No matter how hungry birds are, and no matter how many of them there are [birds] there will often be fruits which get missed and then rot. It's still only the beginning of February too.  :)
    Thanks for this. So you’d just leave them on or would you take them off assuming that if they’re black and rotted, they won’t be any good for the birds anyway? Sorry if these are stupid questions - this is a whole new world to me!
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I would nip them off if they are black and shrivelled. It would help to know if your rose repeat flowers. If it flowers once then it is probably on old wood so better to prune after flowering, but then again if you want the hips it isn't! If it repeat flowers then prune it in Feb or March. Again it would help to know what it is. Do you know if it's a climber or not? If not a climber then shorten it by about a third, prune out dead wood, skinny stems and stems that cross over towards the middle or are rubbing on others. 
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    It's just the wild dog rose, Rosa canina, the rose seen in hedgerows.  It may have seeded there or it can be used as rootstock for grafted roses, so it's possible a cultivated variety was there at one point, which has died off, and the rootstock has grown up and taken over.  

    Usually seen in wildish or neglected gardens.  You can prune off the old hips now, but if you cut the rose back too much, you will lose the flowers this summer - no flowers = no hips.
    East Anglia, England
  • RM98RM98 Posts: 43
    Thank you, I think I’ll take the black hips off but leave the rest as it is so I don’t risk cutting it back too much and not getting any hips back this year.

     :) 
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