Pruning roses: how and when
When and how to prune roses
Even if they are the “ queens of the garden”, roses are plants like any other and must therefore be properly cared for, watered, pruned and kept healthy. In this brief study we will deal precisely with pruning, a practice that concerns various plants, but which in roses takes on a very particular meaning. Pruning, in fact, serves to keep the plants healthy and to favor their vegetative development. In roses, pruning has the effect of enhancing flowering and making the roses even more ugly; beautiful and resistant.
Pruning roses
Pruning varies according to the varietyà of cultivated rose. There are in fact varietiesà that need drastic pruning and others that require only light pruning. Before trying your hand at pruning roses, you must therefore know exactly what type of rose you are pruning. Roses with small flowers, for example, need very light pruning, while those with larger flowers; large, need more pruning; intense. In all cases, pruning will serveà to improve the bearing of the plant, to eliminate dead or damaged parts, to lower its height and to stimulate better flowering.
How to prune
Roses can be pruned with the classic pruning tools, or with shears. These tools allow you to cut some branches below the buds. Before starting to cut, and therefore to prune, you must always look at the position of the buds: you must not cut too far from them and not too close. The cuts must be slightly oblique, precise, clean and decisive. In fact, the precise cut avoids smudging and consequent damage to the plant. On the basis of the height of the cut, long, short and medium pruning are distinguished. The first is carried out at a height of about twenty centimeters from the ground and allows you to remove branches with at least 5 buds. The branches and buds to be eliminated are always those that protrude towards the outside. Short pruning, più lighter than the first, it consists in cutting only a couple of buds under the dried flowers. Medium pruning, on the other hand, consists in cutting only the branches between the third or fourth bud that protrudes below the withered flowers.
When to prune
The pruning period of roses depends on their flowering. There are, in fact, species that bloom on one-year branches and those that bloom on second-year branches. There are also roses that bloom only once (in spring) and roses that bloom continuously (re-flowering species). Almost all roses bloom on first year branches. In this case è better to prune before flowering. Roses that bloom on two-year-old branches should be pruned after flowering.