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Rose suckers
I inherited an established rose garden with our new house a couple of years ago. Last year and to a lesser extent the year before I started getting what I presumed were rose suckers (pale green, 7 leaves and no flowers) however many of them were coming from main stems (not from the root) which had normal leaves and lots of flowers. What should I do with these?
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Suckers come from the root stock. Anything from stems is the grafted plant.
(if it is grafted, roses can be grown from cuttings and are then on their own roots and anything coming up will be the same as the plant.)
seven leaves doesn't mean sucker. that's a myth
Some plants flower on the growth they made in the previous year.
Don't cut them off, see what they do this year
In the sticks near Peterborough
If they are suckers you have to dig down to the root stock and tear them off - pull them backwards against the direction of growth. This is right for all plants that produce suckers from the root stock. Many years ago I had a neighbour who was especially proud of her bi-coloured rhododendron! Cutting just encourages them to grow back even more strongly. Suckers is an indication of the plant rocking about in the wind, so stake/tie in more securely.
Thanks for the advice, I've pruned them for the last two years and they are flowering on new growth, I was mainly concerned that the number of the shoots seemed to be increasing. I'll see what happens this year, leave any that come from stems and pull off the suckers from the base.