Beg. gardener with 2 rose bushes over 7 ft tall with long, dangly branches. Where and how should I cut it?

Need advice on where to cut it at, how much to cut off, and what kind of rose food to feed. Thank you.
Beg. gardener with 2 rose bushes over 7 ft tall with long, dangly branches. Where and how should I cut it?
i usually cut mine in February. to a height of 8 inches. i feed them with Bayer total rose food, i think is the name of it. it has fertilizer, fungicide, and insecticide. i also replace the mulch.
Reply:Pruning depends on the type of rose bushes that you have. With all of them, always remove any dead branches and old flower seed heads etc.



Typical rose bushes are pruned 'harshly' each year, in order to get them to grow vigorously and produce tons of flowers. Around 12'' in height is good for them. I do this in February, but there is still time for this.



Climbing and shrub roses grow a little differently, and respond to a lighter pruning. With climbers just take off any over-crowded or very weak growth, and train them laterally, as this helps to get more flowers forming. Shrub roses are also better with a higher pruning, taking out overcrowding, or where branches are rubbing against each other. Take off a third off any older branches, and a maximum of a third of younger vigorous stems. Take the older ones down to 12'' or so, and the weaker younger ones to 12-18''.



Prune all roses so that you cut almost immediately above where the leaves were, and you'll probably see some sprouting buds in these points. To help manage your plants, aim to select your cuts so that the buds will shoot outwards from your plant. Cut diagonally with a slope away from the shoot - this prevents water build up and decay etc. The reason you don't leave much shoot above your cut, is that this part of the stem will dieback to your buds, and too much dead stem is not a good thing.



I'd add a mulch of some horse manure if you can, as this helps to retain water in the soil below - roses are surface rooting, and love plenty of water during a hot summer. It also releases a steady stream of fertilizer for you plant. Otherwise, a slow release fertilzer for flowering plants, or specifically tailored to roses.



I realize the diffulty here is trying to establish what sort of rose plants that you have - shrub or the normal lower height bush roses - and then the right sort of pruning. I'd probably go with what desired shape you'd like, and take the risk of some harsher pruning than some of them would like - the first year may mean less flowers, but they will grow to the form that you'd like and will flower more profusely in future. Maybe see if any friends or neighbours can help you work out what they are.



Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
Reply:Sounds like they are climbing roses, you might want to check here for pruning them



http://www.backyardgardener.com/rose/ros...