Anybody know about roses?

[Meredith]

Its not even march yet, and due to our unusually beautiful weather we have been having, my roses are starting to get the little new leaf things already. Should I prune them now, or just leave them?

 

[mitche8359]

What type of rose and how tall are they? Ideally, the canes should have been cut back to about 12" above ground last fall at least for tea hybrids.

 

[flipz]

Wrong freakin thread!!

hahah

 

[Meredith]

There are three groups. There is one of about 20 Hybrid Teas, They are probably between 2 and 4 feet high. Another group of maybe 15 floibunda, around two or three feet high. And the last group I am not sure what kind they are. The bushes are low to the ground maybe a foot high, smallish flowers with a single row of petals. I think the flowers grow in groups but I don't remember. So Should I just leave the bushes alone and cut them back in the fall?

 

[Fluff]

I'm no rose expert but, I'd let them alone til fall. My rose leaves are budding right now too.

 

[Melody]

NEVER prune in the fall!!!!! Pile mulch, leaves & shreaded newspaper around the union (the ball looking thing right above the ground) You can prune on Presidents Day. Pruning will encourage new growth, and doing it in the still warm temps will cause the plant to start growing before the first frost. Add some freezing temps and you just killed the plant.

Its ok to prune now.

http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/base.d2w/report?html=wintercare.html

 

[Fluff]

I stand corrected.
My father raised beautiful roses and always pruned in the fall. So this is how I was taught. I cut mine way back every fall and they come back strong every spring. :?

 

[Melody]

I stand corrected.
My father raised beautiful roses and always pruned in the fall. So this is how I was taught. I cut mine way back every fall and they come back strong every spring. :?

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Northern CA, and my Grandmother pruned in the fall also. But it was a very mild temp winter. Merideth is in Washington state and I think probably much colder temps then what we even have here. I do think alot depends on the hardiness of that plant. How healthy are they. so forth and so on...
If pruning in the fall works for you cool! Maybe I'll try it with one of my plants and see what happens.

 

[Fluff]

I grew up in Maryland. Not far from where I am now. Just for fun, here are some pics of my roses from this past summer.

 

[Melody]

any suggestions on how to keep the FREAKIN deer from eating them? I found out this year that roses are like deer candy. Im going to be camped out in my back yard this summer with a shotgun!

I have a herd of about 10-12 does and an AMAZING buck that I USED to feed. I would like for them not to come so close to the house now. I tried soap, they ate it, my hubby peed around them (someone said they dont like human urine) hair clippings. NOTHING worked... ARGH!!!!

 

[Fluff]

I have no idea Melody. I have a friend with the same problem. Except the deer keep eating her dogwood trees.

Meredith, sorry I hijacked your thread.

 

[Melody]

Im to balme too... sorry

 

[Meredith]

No worries! We have deer too. They haven't touched the roses yet but they ate all of my columbine last year. Probably the best deer deterrent is dogs. We dont have any buy my neighbors do.
So prune now? How far?

 

[Melody]

I prune about half way down. always cut about 1/2 inch above a joint.
cut out any crossing branches and the desired shape is a cone... empty in the middle... Thats the way its "supposed" to be... although NONE of my roses look that way... I just make sure no shoot touches another, and none cross.

You can cut all the way back, with only about 3 or 4 inches of stem sticking out, but you wont get a very big plant. Once you get good growth prune again. cut the ends of the shoots off right above the first set of leaves that have a set of five... did that make sense? The link I gave you will tell you I believe. all roses have different requirements, so the info Im giving is kinda general... oh yes... feed them now...I think...

 

[mitche8359]

I've only kept the tea hybrids so that's what my comments pertain to. I've always pruned back the canes in the fall after the last flowering. I've never had an problems doing so. I also prune back the canes after each flowering to keep the rose bush a bush and not a monster. One of my mother's bushes gets to be about 5' tall every summer and it's just outlandish.

As far as deer, they eat my berry canes. I put up netting a couple years ago and they've left it alone. Netting fell down but they still leave the berries alone.

 

[StickyTuba]

I've lived in Michigan all my life and my father, and my grandparents along with aunts and uncles always pruned in the fall.
We also cover them for the winter and then take off the covers mid-April.
I have always cut them way, way down and they grow back with a vengeance. I inherited about 4 bushes at the house I bought and after I prune them they grow to about 5 feet every year.
HTH

 

[SerLunchbox]

Probably the best deer deterrent is dogs

I was thinking more of a shotgun ... But then again i would have deer in my freezer at that point. mmmmmm deer. As for them eating the flowers, it could be bacuse certain types of rose petals are edible to humans. They have a very potent perfumey flavor to them. So that might be the draw ... don't attempt to eat them if you don't know if it is the edible species of the rose or not though ... that can get dangerous

 

[Meredith]

WELL, it appears I dont have to worry about pruning them after all. My landlord's son came and de-mossed the roof, and oh by the way I am going to trim the roses too. I know I should be grateful, less work for me, but I was really looking forward to doing it myself. They didn't tell me this was going to be done, and now I feel like, whats next?? If they are going to take over the yard work, I would like some notice so I don't go out there and break my back only to have them come in and redo everything. Am I freaking out over nothing?

 

[Melody]

Its OK... Just go out there and feed the roses. Osomocoat makes a WONDERFUL rose food. From here on out, you can take good care of them. Make sure you dont water the leaves, Just at the base of the plant. Keep any dead leaves up away from the plant. When you do water, water good and deep. It encourages deep roots. You can spray for aphids, but warm soapy water works well also. you just have to reapply everytime it rains. so its a pain in the butt.
and ask your landlord if you can take over the roses from here. He may have been worried that you wouldnt do it.
also water in the morning. Watering at night and you can get mildew. Some roses are more apt to get it then others. My Mr. Lincolen rose will get powdery mildew if I THINK aobut watering it in the evening... My Queen Elizabeth rose is fine... so you never know. Good Luck and post us some pics when you get some flowers.

 

[Bearfan]

For the record, I cut back to 12" every fall before I cover them for the winter.