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Rose Pruning
Badger2012
Posts: 1
Hi/
how and when is the best time to tidy up or prune some old rambling roses, they are almost done flowering now, they are quite sparse at the bottom which I would like to resolve, or should I leave until spring and do it all at once,
I am in the south west
0
Posts
Around this time of year the top half gets removed with a hedge trimmer this reduces the wind swing over winter. In Spring then they get a proper cut back usually down to where the crown starts from the main stem, prune above an outward facing bud and take out any ingrowing or weak stems. I mulch around the base with compost mixed with a hand full of granular fertiliser and water well. This has worked for me over the last thirty years and some are that old. This works for all my roses, if you did the correct pruning now you would still need to check for disease or frost damage in spring so my reasoning is why do it twice. If you do need to lower the rose drastically then cut the main stem above a bud and it should regrow, I took my Wills Scarlet down to the ground and it came back, I then trained it on to wires. Tough old birds are Roses. Hope this helps though there will be others coming on with differing ideas, you take your pick.
Frank.