Roses

[chokkie]

Hi Green fingered ABers out there .... all my rose (standards) have finished blooming and I was wondering what work I should be doing on them now. Is it too early to cut them back drastically? Or should I just dead-head and leave all the growth there? Would appreciate some guidance, please. Many thanks .... cheers, Chox.

[Captain2]

They say you should hard prune, down to about 6", either before the first frost of the year or after the last frost. I always preferred doing it before; makes the garden a little tidier and there is less to sway around should we have strong winds.

[jourdain2]

First things first - dead-head them unless you want hips for flower-arranging or something like that. Personally I wouldn't cut back hard just yet. Leave as long as you can, but do it before the Winter winds can cause rocking and root disturbance. Also, it gives more time for the sap to 'drain' (best word I know) and goodness to be resorbed. I am by no means a professional, but my roses always do OK. I do know someone who has cut hers back hard last week. You pays your money …...

[bhg481]

When Captain says 6" he means above the graft, not from the floor.

[Buenchico]

See here:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/roses/growing-guide

[woofgang]

it depends where in the country you are. You can tidy off long bits and dead head at any time but here in the south its still much to warm to do proper pruning as it will just cause the plant to shoot again and then if we do get hard frosts or freezing condtions, it will kill off the shoots. I do my proper prune after the last frost, but if you are in the north and get more reliable cold weather now then you can prune now.

[chokkie]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate all your advice. We are in the Midlands, so I think I will go for an inbetween time to prune. Thanks again for your advice, cheers, Chox.

[Old_Geezer]

I tend to prune in the spring, but there is the issue of it sprouting early and needing to take that all off. Had that this year and the roses in the back garden sulked and didn't bloom until it had grown well over head height again.

[woofgang]

yup. I don't prune till I want them to shoot

[Chipchopper]

Just to clarify, are the roses,grafted onto single stems (standards) or are they (multi stemmed) bush roses grafted near the roots?.
Sorry if I've mist something obvious.

[Vagus]

We’re doing all our roses this weekend, always have and always will at this time of year. We cut them back to about 12 inches from the ground.

[julia-mag]

I suppose we all do what our roses need for our locality, but I always used to cut mine by a third now they are finished and then by further third in early spring when the sap starts to rise and mine in Devon absolutely thrived on that system. Good Luck.