Late Fall Rose Pruning and December Sunrises

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I love late fall sunrises. The sun is so low in the sky that it burns through my Rose Window in the dining room, setting the area ablaze with color.  This autumn season has been much warmer than normal.  There is no frost in the ground yet and we are still seeing 50 degree days on a regular basis.  This has afforded some more time to accomplish pruning here in North Central Connecticut.

Gross Pruning

I call fall pruning gross pruning…not because it’s disgusting; but only because there is nothing scientific about it. I grow all kinds of roses.  By the time I prune this time of year, my hybrid teas are around ten feet tall as all the plants have been reaching for the fading sunshine.  I strap on my knee pads and cut these roses back to around knee high.  Chop, chop, chop!  No worries about cutting to an outward-facing bud or anything like that.  We will take care of that during fine pruning in April.  For floribundas, the same type of pruning works just fine.  Prune your minis and minifloras in the same manner.  Tie your climbing roses to their supports so they don’t whip around in the wicked winter gales and trim off the ends of the canes.  Shrub roses benefit by cutting them back by at least a third and you can even go lower than that.

Why prune roses in the Fall?

There is no rule book stating that we have to cut roses back in autumn, but our roses are always happier when we do in this part of our rose nation! Here in southern New England, we almost always get really big snow and ice events.  These can really crush and splinter canes that have not been pruned back.  As roses grow during the season, the taller they get the smaller the growing canes become atop the plant.  This twiggy growth can cover the tops of the bushes (especially with shrub roses like Knockouts), and when the snow and ice arrives it collects on top and the weight can really make a mess out of our bushes.  Best to prune back before the heavy winter precipitation arrives.

What about winter protection?

I begin my winter protection program in the spring when I plant my roses. I bury the bud unions or crowns at least four inches deep.  This not only protects the bud union from whence all good things rosie come, but it also protects four inches of canes underground which harbor multitudinous buds.  When these buds ripen, they will send up beautiful basal breaks in the spring, many of which are the diameter of a big piece of asparagus!  Deeply planted roses are happy roses in the colder portions of the country.  When your roses are planted deeply, there is no need to apply any winter protection although I usually fluff up the mulch around my roses.  If your roses are not planted deep, wait for some frost in the ground and then bury them with mulch, chopped up leaves and pine needles, or compost.  This mounding material will freeze to the canes and protect the plants all winter long.  I feel better applying this protection after the ground is frozen as we don’t want to give an open invitation to burrowing rodents to move in and strip our roses during the winter.

What’s next?

Here is the wonderful part! I work very hard in my gardens from April until it’s time for them to go dormant.  Once you clean up all your pruning garbage, it’s time to decorate for the holidays!  I have permission from my neighbors to prune their pines.  My neighbors and I grow winterberry.  I will fill up my window boxes, embellish a wreath or two, and get in some time for relaxation every day.  Our roses are sleeping!  And, we have earned a few months rest, as well.

Meet Marci Martin

Marci Martin has loved roses for as long as she can remember. From the time she was a little girl, she was fascinated with how…

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