Help with Lady Banks

16 years ago

I have three Lady Banks bushes that the landscaper planted too close to a block wall and installed flimsy trellises. Now they have tripled in size and two of them broke the trellises they were growing on and are laying in a heap on the ground. Without any idea of what I was doing, after they finished blooming last spring I thinned the living heck out of them, they looked horrible, but did grow lots of foliage back over the summer. Unfortunately all of the foliage they grew was near the top, leaving them looking like deformed poodles, and hence the topheavyness.

Okay, so after reading too many accounts of the different ways and times of year to prune, new wood versus old wood, etc. etc., can anyone tell me the correct way to prune Lady Banks? How much to prune? When? Do they bloom on new or old wood? Since they are in a heap, can I successfully prune them way WAY back and then try to retrain the new growth upwards? Is there any way to avoid the poodle effect with a method of thinning?

I'm ready to rip all three out and plant other roses in their place that I am more familiar with.

Extra info: I am near Phoenix, AZ, they are once bloomers here, we do get at least one hard freeze per year, they are on an east facing wall, they have been in the ground for 2 1/2 years, I have only pruned one time so far.

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Comments (5)

melva
16 years ago
Last year, about this time, my Lady Banks had blown off the fence, and was in a heap of the ground..I hired someone, and he used a chain saw, to cut the rose way back..I didn't expect it to bloom the next spring, but it did and it was lovely! So I bet you can whack yours and get blooms, in the spring...sometimes you just have to do what needs to be done...they can't stay in a heap, on the ground.Lady Banks just blooms in the early spring, for me too.
jbcarr
16 years ago
They bloom on old wood, forming the buds in the period after blooming. Therefore, you prune it right after blooming so you don't lose next years blooms. It can stand a lot of pruning since it grows very rapidly. I have no experience with severe pruning of this rose on a routine basis, but that would keep it "in bounds". I personally would recommend moving it soon, before it gets any bigger.You would be much happier with an appropriately sized rose for the current spot. If you decide to let them stay, then you would do best with a rebar type rose supporting structure. Both moving and support are covered nicely in this and the Antique forum- just use the search function.
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Kim, I hear what you are saying, but really it has not been a problem. These 2 roses have been on our house for over 20 years. During that time, once they fell down in a 100 MPH+ wind storm, and once we cut them down to about 7 ft high so that the house could be painted. In the first instance, we just (I say "we" - hah! It certainly helps to have a DH who is a contractor and owns 35 ft ladders!) put them back up, and the next Spring they bloomed more than ever. In the second instance, it took them only about 18 months to grow back to the roof - happy as clams. I am not one who thinks of squirrels as a problem - I like them. Who really uses these roses are the birds - I never let my DH prune or re-tie them up except in the late Fall when we are sure that all of the babies have fledged. Our climate is warm and dry in the summers, so the roses have not caused any sort rot type problems, and I think they actually provide some insulation against the sun. They are of course full of water, which is better than our wooden shingles which dry out. As to "massive amounts of dirt and debris" - no. My DH gets up there on his ladders once a year, takes out some of the weight, ties up the newer canes we are keeping, etc. However, (again, perhaps it is our climate - it gets very windy here in the winter storms) he has not found any debris except a few birds nests. The stuff he generates from his labor is almost all rose clippings, and almost all alive and green for that matter. When we had our house painted, he told me that on this side of the house the shingles were in much better shape than another side where there are no roses - that entire wall baked in the sun and had to be re-shingled (I immediately started to grow a tall rose bush on it to be helpful!). So, my experience is evidently different than yours - just wanted folks to know, hope you don't mind. Jackie
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The bigger question is how much space you have. I see that you are in Zone 9a. California? Florida? R. baenksiae lutea will become gigantic in a mild climate. Ours leaped the 7-ft fence, climbed a ficus tree, and waves around about 25 ft up. At the same time, it rambled along the top of the fence, around the corner, and is now heading into the patio, maybe 25 ft. away. It has arched outward to steal the sun from three other good-sized roses. We are in Coastal Southern California, and most of the banksiae clan repeats here to some degree. Lutea can truly be termed remontant, here. Jeri
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Yes, I noticed this afterward, Jackie. Look, I went through something like this with a yellow banksia. My R. banksia lutea was a gift from an older lady who was moving from her home of many decades. Her banksia had been a gift from an older lady, long before, and she wanted to take it with her, so they dug the thing out of the ground. She gave us half of it. When they gave it to us, it was an enormous STUMP with truncated roots, bundled into a trash bag. We planted it with some misgivings, and it sat there as a stump with a few green leaves for almost three years. It was alive, so we kept watering it, and waited. When it had grown enough roots, it took off like a rocket ship, jumped a 7-ft fence, leaped into a nearby tree, roared up to the top of the tree, and began to wave its spring bloom around, 6 ft. above the tree. We just had to be patient. The rose knew what it was doing. But I don't think it's going to need spraying. I think it's pretty disease-free, everywhere I've seen it in TX.
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Rachel, when we got our Yaller L.B. (R. banksia lutea) it was this big ugly stump. It was half of the plant that an elderly member of our rose society had dug up, when she sold her home. She'd grown it for years, having received it in turn from another older lady. We planted the ugly thing, and it sat there for about 3 years. Didn't grow, but the younger parts of it remained green. In Year Four, it finally started to grow, and it hasn't stopped since. It jumped the fence it was planted next to, leaped to a nearby tree, and has grown right out the top of it. So my suggestion would be to keep it watered. Don't feed it. I suspect it is growing roots, and it must do that before it builds top-growth. This is a BIG BIG rose. It really does match the saying: "First they sleep. Then they creep. Then they leap." If you think it is vulnerable where it is, you sure could pot it up, and let it grow until it is more substantial. Jeri
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Jeannie Cochell
16 years ago
Silly as it sounds, Lady Banks aren't even sold with the roses at the nurseries... they're sold with the landscape shrubs because that's how they're treated. Most landscapers go through and cut them back into a hedge after they've bloomed in April/May. You can do the same thing without any major damage to the bush. It will eventually fill in towards the bottom.
Molineux
16 years ago
The largest rose in the world is a white LADY BANKS in Tombstone AZ. Its main "cane" is the size of a tree trunk. This rose is so gargantuan that it can hold its own with wisteria. Don't believe me? Then open the link below and scroll down to the image of the massive "trunk". My advice is to move it now before the roots get any more established.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Tombstone Rose by Jeri Jennings
stephanotis_1
Original Author
16 years ago
I was thinking more of shovel pruning rather than moving. I know Lady Banks have their fans, but a once bloomer with itty bitty blooms really doesn't earn its keep for me. I may have to just give them away, if anyone wants to come out here and dig them up, they're yours!

Help with Lady Banks

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melva

jbcarr

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