Hybid Rose Bush

With Spring (hopefully) fast approaching, let’s talk briefly about what to do with those gorgeous rose bushes.  Roses are a funny plant to take care of and with the proper maintenance, look perfect all year, but often times will produce good flowers and poor foliage.

Rule of thumb for rose pruning is to do it while they are dormant (wintertime), and don’t take more than about 1/3 of the overall plant size off.  This is extremely important if you have an old hybrid style rose bush.  You don’t want to get too far into the ‘old’ wood and damage the integrity of the plant.

If you have a Knockout Rose, you have a little more freedom into the pruning of it.  You still should do a good winter pruning to get it off to a good start in the spring, but the amount you take off is not as critical.  You will damage the plant if you take too much off, but you won’t kill it.  I have seen people cut them to the ground every year just to keep the size under control.  I would recommend pruning more often, then pruning to the ground…but to each his own I guess.

If you don’t mind using chemicals, I recommend using a systemic fungicide with a rose food in the early spring to help prevent black spot and other problems.  If you don’t like chemicals, then you will have to control fungus manually by removing infected leaves daily to prevent spreading.

I have never considered myself ‘expert’ in rose bushes, so if some of you out there are expert and have some extra advise, please share with the rest of us!

Happy Roses