As Valentine’s Day approaches, thoughts turn to roses. And a gardener’s thoughts should turn to pruning the bushes.

Pruning reinvigorates a rosebush, keeps it healthy and ensures that the blooms are as big and abundant as possible. Says acclaimed rosarian and author Stephen Scanniello in A Year of Roses (Cool Springs Press, $24.99), “The worst thing you can do for a rose is not prune it.”

Though Valentine’s Day has been the traditional time to prune roses in this area, springlike weather seems to be coming earlier each year.

So, if a hard freeze is unlikely, don’t wait. Go ahead and prune your old garden roses and modern hybrids now. Except for climbers; don’t prune them until after their spring bloom or you’ll have no flowers in April.

Old and modern bush types are pruned the same way. However, prune a repeat bloomer more severely than a bush that blooms only once per season.

Your goal is to ruthlessly prune so that the bush is airy, bowl-shaped and much, much smaller. Why bother? Opening up the plant increases air circulation, which makes disease and insect infestation less likely.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: PRUNING GURU STEPHEN SCANNIELLO

1. Remove brown deadwood, discolored canes and any canes that insects, diseases or storms have damaged. Mr. Scanniello (above) examines a bush in a garden in the Swiss Avenue Historic District.

2. Starting at ground level, thin out and open up the plant. Also, remove one of any two canes that are rubbing against each other. Remove spindly canes and twigs and canes that grow into the middle of the bush.

3. When deciding where to cut, leave an outward-facing bud.

4. Cut back, severely if necessary, the remaining canes so that you are left with a bush that is 24 to 36 inches tall and consists of four to eight canes.

OTHER TIPS

Choose a good-looking bud eye –the point from where a future branch will grow – and make the cut about one-fourth of an inch above the eye.

When choosing where to prune a cane, leave an outward-facing bud. This ensures that the bush grows out, not into its center.

On a climbing rose, leave long canes long so they can be trained onto a trellis or other structure.

Use a good, sharp pair of pruners, and disinfect them first with rubbing alcohol. You also may need a saw and loppers for large old canes, especially if you have never attempted this chore before.

Mr. Scanniello, who is in the area frequently to work in the Heritage Rose Foundation study garden in Collin County, recommends removing all the leaves from the bush after pruning, because last season’s leaves can harbor disease.

•If a freeze follows the pruning, cut off the die-back.

•Rake up any leaves and twigs to prevent the spread of disease.

source : www.dallasnews.com