For most homeowners, the garden is an essential part of the home. Pruning rose bushes may seem like a hefty task. We assure you, it is not. With dedication and committed hands, everyone can prune bushes effectively.
When it comes to pruning rose bushes, there are only a few things to remember. Following these steps and tips will help you prune your rose bushes to perfection. By the end of this article, you will be able to grow beautiful rose bushes that accentuate your garden.
What Do You Need?
Before you begin pruning, you’ll need a few tools. These tools will help you achieve the pruning goals you have set.
1. Gardening Shears
These are certainly the most important ‘instrument’ you’ll need. Good bypass shears make clean, overlapping cuts. This is important because the wrong pair of shears may kill your roses. So you must purchase the correct type of shears – bypass shears.
2. Good Gloves
Like any other gardening job, a good pair of gloves is required to keep your hands safe. Without the gloves, you run a high risk of getting cut by the sharp thorns of the bush.
3. Thick Long Clothing
Like the gloves, wearing long thick clothing will protect you from possible cuts from sharp thorns.
4. Protective Eyewear
When snipping your shears, shards of broken thorns may find its way into your eyes or the area surrounding them. This is why it is important to wear protective eyewear. Also, the right choice of eyewear allows you to have a clear, unrestricted sight of your bushes.
When Can I Prune My Rose Bushes?
The best time to prune your rose bushes is during springtime. By this time, roses have begun to bud. Then, you will know that it is the right time to prune.
If your leisure time doesn’t fall in the spring, however, you can also prune your bushes in the summer. You must be careful of this, however, as, during the summer, you run a risk of pruning wrongly. In the summer, you have to take extra care to prune your rose bush without blemishes.
It isn’t also out of place to prune rose bushes in the fall too. With the winter approaching, however, you must prune them carefully to make sure they do not die during the approaching cold. Bushes may be affected by heavy snowing so they should be pruned heavily from the top to keep them light.
Tips To Prune Rose Bushes
Now that you have all the materials you need as well as know the right time to prune, you can begin pruning. You only need to follow the instructions you see below. We reiterate: you must follow these instructions to the letter to prune effectively.
1. Clear the Area Surrounding Your Bush
The first step to take is to clear the area around your target rose bush. By clearing your area — and that includes removing all the leaves and twigs left on the bush itself — you prepare your bush roses for a proper pruning experience. Also, clearing this area offers you the opportunity to see the bush itself as you will need unrestricted sight to be able to prune effectively.
2. Cut away Useless Wood
How do you know which wood is useless? Any deadwood is useless and will only get in the way of your pruning. Cut any deadwood down to make sure that only living wood remains. You must remember to cut to the very base of the plant itself, however. Make use of your shears and cut down as effectively as you can.
When doing this, you should also cut down thin undergrowth. Only thick ones should remain. Thin undergrowth may not survive any harsh weather and are susceptible to diseases. These diseases, in turn, can affect your healthy bush. So it is pertinent that you remember to keep only strong, healthy wood around your bush. This will go a long way in keeping your bush healthy.
3. Keep the Center of Your Bush Open
Quite surprisingly, many home-gardeners sometimes fail to do this. It is essential to remember that your bush needs air to stay alive and healthy. This is why you must keep the centre of your bush open. By doing this, you not only help give your plant proper airing, but you also give yourself unrestricted sight. Also, the weeds left around the centre of your plant must be removed to ensure air circulation.
4. Prune The Canes
With the centre now airy and exposed, the next step is to prune the canes that remain. Prune them in such a way that the branches that are left face an outward direction. This ensures that your rose bush receives adequate balance and circulation when the leaves start to grow. Prune them outward so that when you water them, the leaves will receive enough water that is equivalent to the food they get.
5. Close Newly-Pruned Cuts
After pruning, you must remember to seal the cuts that are exposed. This protects them from possible diseases and infection. A freshly-pruned rose bush runs a high risk of getting an infection; hence, the need to seal the cuts. Proper compounds can be found in online markets. There are several sub-par ones, though, so you will need to pay proper attention.
6. Properly Clean Your Bush
As before, you will need to clear the area after pruning. The twigs and shards of wood that you have pruned need to be cleared away. The branches should also be cleared to avoid the complication of diseases.
7. Water Your Rose Bush
After cleaning, you will need to water your rose bushes. Use clean water and work with what you get. You must take care not to overwater it so that you don’t overdo it. Your rose bush is fresh and will need careful attention.
8. Properly Feed Them
Like any other plant, they need food. So you must feed them with the proper fertilizers. With proper food and water, your plants are certain to survive for a long time.
In conclusion
Pruning your rose bushes is very important for their health. In fact, there’s no such thing as over-pruning – they fill up very quickly. Pruning your bushes regularly does them a lot of good and no harm at all. Following the steps above will help you to keep your roses blossoming for a very long time.
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