Roses are a great eye-catcher in the garden. The selection of different varieties is particularly large, so there is one to suit every taste. To ensure that you can enjoy the colourful flowers for a long time, careful pruning of the roses is essential.
In this gardening tip, we explain what you need to look out for and give you some important tips.
Why are roses pruned?
For roses to bloom profusely, regular care is required, including pruning. This should be done in spring when the forsythia is in bloom. Pruning rejuvenates the plant and strengthens its vigour and flowering ability.
The biggest mistake in this area is not to prune at all. As a result, the shoots lose their health and dull stems develop.
Pruning also makes it possible to control the growth habit by consistently removing shoots. Pruning also improves leaf health by improving the aeration of the roses and reducing the spread of fungal diseases.
Sharp tools are a must
When pruning, the use of clean and sharp shears is paramount. Dirty tools can infect the plants with diseases and damage them as a result. Larger rose shears are suitable for removing thicker shoots and dead wood to make the work more pleasant. If necessary, handy pruning shears can also be used. Protective gloves should also be worn to avoid unsightly scratches from the thorns.
Pruning recommendations for each type of rose
Pruning roses is different depending on the variety. Nevertheless, there are a few tips that should be followed for each type.
Always remove diseased and dead wood and cut thin, weak shoots directly from the strong shoot. This removal allows new shoots to form, which later grow stronger. Care should also be taken to ensure that crossing shoots or shoots that are too close together are removed. If you are unsure, you can also leave only the stronger shoot.
The cut itself should be made approximately 1 cm above the eye and at a slight angle. Rose eyes are small areas on the branches from which new shoots can grow. The slanted cut prevents water from collecting on the surface. This could otherwise lead to diseases and damage the rose.
Especially with lush shrubs, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Here it is worth pausing the pruning and gaining a few metres of distance. This makes it clear which shoots need to be removed for a beautiful growth habit.
How much pruning is needed?
Depending on the species, pruning should be stronger or weaker. The rule of thumb is to prune roses with vigorous growth or large roses less severely. With some varieties, a distinction must also be made between single-flowering and repeat-flowering roses.
Bedding roses and roses for example, are pruned each spring to the five strongest shoots. Three to five eyes should be left on each shoot and the rest removed.
Shrub roses are divided into single-flowering and repeat-flowering. Single-flowering shrub roses are generally not pruned. Only old wood is removed. Re-flowering shrub roses, on the other hand, must be pruned annually. The shoots in the centre are the tallest and the side shoots fall off. Stronger shoots are shortened by a third, weaker ones by a quarter.
Climbing roses, which only flower once are spared pruning as far as possible. If necessary, they are thinned out slightly by removing individual shoots. The strongest shoots are fixed to the climbing support and will later produce many new flowers. Climbing roses that flower frequently are pruned annually. The main shoots are shortened by around a third. The side shoots are cut back to two to three eyes.
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