You have a tall, rangy Mr. Lincoln because Mr. Lincoln is a very tall hybrid tea. Mine was over six feet tall this summer. I have never found anything that you can do to reliably force new growth from the bottom of a rose that is hesitant to do so. I have read in old rose books about scraping the bud union to encourage development of new canes, but I'm doubtful that it will make a difference.

My best advice is to prune your Mr. Lincoln in the early spring (when it is recommended to do so in your zone), keep him fed and watered and sprayed with fungicide to prevent blackspot and other fungal diseases, and see what happens. Do not prune too low, as that will encourage your rose to produce LONG canes, which appears to be the exact opposite of what you want.

If Mr. Lincoln doesn't please you after treating him this way next year (and perhaps the year after that, too) you may want to replace him with a rose that has a bush shape that you want.

First of all, what Connie said above. :)

Secondly, I'll admit I know nothing about zone 8 prep for winter, but I can tell you about Mr. Lincoln.

In Illinois, it seems like everyone picks Mr. Lincoln for their first red rose; it is the ubiquitous choice here. You can spot a Mr. Lincoln bush from several yards away because of its tall, lanky habit. It stands out in a crowd of roses not because of its blooms, but because of the habit you describe.

It doesn't seem to matter if the grower is a novice or a seasoned vet because I've never seen anyone ever be able to encourage Mr. Lincoln to be more compact and less rangy. It's one of those 'it is what it is' situations.

It's still a beautiful, marvelous rose....but you can't make this duck bark.

Ditto all of the above. Most Hybrid Teas have a tendency to grow taller rather than bushier. If you want something bushier look at floribundas or shrub roses. And I would discourage you from pruning Mr Lincoln now. Wait until spring. If there are very long canes that will whip around in the wind over winter stake and tie them instead of cutting them. In the spring you can prune deep if you want. Do not cut off too low though or you could lose Mr. Lincoln to it's root stock.

I've heard of scraping the crown but I've never done it myself so I cannot say if it works or not. I would be very careful about doing so though. Anytime you injure the wood you create an opportunity for disease to enter. So make sure everything is clean before and after scraping. If you decide to try it let us know how it works for you!

Probably scraping the bud union is a superstition. If a hundred people try this, somebody is going to get a new shoot that was going to happen anyway. Maybe somebody else gets a canker infection caused by damaging the bark.

If I have a one-cane rose that's annoying me, I might cut the cane all the way down (in spring, not now) and see if I get two or three shoots. If not, I get rid of it.

We were advised to do the bud-union scraping thing. We did it, and I never, ever, ONCE saw it result in the production of new basal canes.
As Michael says -- maybe someone, somewhere gets a new shoot, and very likely, they'd have had it anyhow.
I think that canker infection is more likely.

I also agree that it would be far more effective to buy a rose with the habit you WANT, rather than try to make a tall rangy rose into a shorter, more rotund one.

You MIGHT mitigate the problem by planting "companions" in front of what my husband calls its' "Bare Bottom." I do that with some Hybrid Perpetuals which have the same problem.

My husband also notes that most Hybrid Tea Roses look like they've been to Military School. --GIGGLE--

Jeri in Southern CA

I thank you for all the wonderful comments. Regarding scraping the bud union, I will do it on an old rose that I will not be upset about if it fails. I have tried doing it several times in the past on failing roses, but it was not successful.

Regarding the Mr. Lincoln, I realize that tall and rangy is its' nature. I have not pruned it in the past several years, and so wanted to try to get it a little under control. The rose is great and is prolific, so I don't want to kill it. I am worried that if I prune it back into the old gray wood, I will not get new canes from that wood,the end result being that I will have killed the rose. So I appreciate the insight that you have given me.

Re: the one cane rose, I think I will prune the one cane back to almost the bud union, and see if that stimulates new bud union canes. In lieu of that maybe new canes will grow from the short singular cane. Almost like creating a new bud union above the existing bud union, I suppose. As an aside, has anyone been successful with cuttings from Mr. Lincoln, creating a "from own rootstock Mr. Lincoln"? Thanks. Dave.

As a rule, hybrid tea roses don't grow as vigorously on their own roots as opposed to grafted. However, currently on the board there's a picture of an own-root Mr. L that looks pretty good. Roses are not the easiest plants to root. Cuttings are usually taken from half-hardened stems shortly after blooming, but in the hands of beginners these will often rot and die. You could try a couple of these and also try a few hardwood cuttings. These can be stuck in the garden in fall in a shady place with 2/3 of a 6" cutting underground and a jar over.

I forgot to say--normally you will get shoots from old gray wood. Look carefully for small pimples that represent latent bud eyes and cut above these. There are also latent buds on the graft unless it is very old and exhausted.

One of the older conventions of rose care is to cut way back on a one-cane wonder to force more new canes. It doesn't work. It's kinda like beating a sick child to make it stronger, IMHO. If you really want the rose to get stronger, what I do is dig it up and pot it in good potting soil and in a pot that is not too big for the root system (otherwise they're susceptible to root rot if the pot is too big). Then I baby it along and see if I can get it to revitalize.

If it's only got one cane, it's because it's weak and not growing well. Pruning off what little top growth it has will only weaken it more. Vigorous plants respond to heavy pruning by growing more, but weak plants die.

I'd wait til normal spring pruning time to prune back Mr. L. I find that fall pruning in my climate, at least, results in increased cane canker from exposing cut wood to wet winter weather. Yes wind whipping can be a problem but it's better to stake and tie in most cases.

You can indeed prune into old gray wood, so long as you see a bud. I'd only do a third or half the canes that way at one pruning and wait for the next year to do the others. I have revitalized old improperly pruned roses that way, but that was in mild California with long growing seasons and gentle winters. I haven't tried it here.

In our climate, a good spray program to control fungal disease, minimal pruning, and patience will result in Hybrid Teas like Mr. Lincoln growing new canes. The spray program may also allow grouping HTs in clusters.