This rose is thick and bare at the bottom and flowering above my head. There is another thick knobbly bit about halfway up. If I cut low, will it be able to regrow from such a thick stem?
Do you know what sort it is? Is it a climber? If it's a climber then cut off all the shoots from the main stems to an outward bud roughly 6 inches long (depends a bit where suitable bud is). If not then, to rejuvenate it, cut it down to outward buds 2 -3 feet from the ground. It could be a tall shrub, some don't need much pruning, but if you want new stems lower down then you will have to. Stems may come from the ground. Hybrid tea roses (which it is too tall to be) are pruned shorter than that. Feed it and mulch it.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I don't think it is a climber, just a normal one which hasn't been pruned. When you say to cut to outward buds 2-3 feet from the ground, can I do this if there aren't buds? There's nothing growing that low down. Or do you mean the little lines and swellings?
The leaves in the photo are from a sad hydrangea which is stuck between two roses, if thats what you meant by buds. The roses just look like wood, the leaves are all up in the air.
I mean the little lines and swellings, they are where new shoots will grow if you cut off the bit above. I know there is a hydrangea below and the rose leaves are starting to grow at the top. Cut off the dead rose wood too.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
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Do you know what sort it is? Is it a climber? If it's a climber then cut off all the shoots from the main stems to an outward bud roughly 6 inches long (depends a bit where suitable bud is). If not then, to rejuvenate it, cut it down to outward buds 2 -3 feet from the ground. It could be a tall shrub, some don't need much pruning, but if you want new stems lower down then you will have to. Stems may come from the ground. Hybrid tea roses (which it is too tall to be) are pruned shorter than that. Feed it and mulch it.
I don't think it is a climber, just a normal one which hasn't been pruned. When you say to cut to outward buds 2-3 feet from the ground, can I do this if there aren't buds? There's nothing growing that low down. Or do you mean the little lines and swellings?
The leaves in the photo are from a sad hydrangea which is stuck between two roses, if thats what you meant by buds. The roses just look like wood, the leaves are all up in the air.
I mean the little lines and swellings, they are where new shoots will grow if you cut off the bit above. I know there is a hydrangea below and the rose leaves are starting to grow at the top. Cut off the dead rose wood too.
Ok, I'm going to give it a go now. Hopefully I won't destroy them! Thanks for the advice.