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Pruning 'Cecile Brunner'

Bluebelle_Riverina

18 years ago

Any suggestions for keeping this one under control? I have three Cecile Brunner roses (Spray Cecile Brunner I suppose - grown from cuttings, I'm not sure of their ancestry). They are covered with leaves at the moment and are very "thick" bushes about one and a half metres high. Last spring they threw up some very long shoots which I cut back to match the rest of the bush after flowering. How should I prune and when?

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Comments (11)

lozza
18 years ago
Check www.reliableroses.com.au for directions on pruning.
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varmi
18 years ago
This year I shall use my electric hedge trimmer. Will tidy the thicker branches.
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Peachymomo, it could be done, but Jackie is on the right track that it's going to take a whale of a lot of maintenance to keep it that way. There are many growth buds in the crown of that plant and each cane has many of their own. For your goal, I would suggest taking a suitable cutting, removing all growth buds from it except the top soft tip, rooting it so it will grow as a continuous, single piece. As it grows taller, remove the buds along the trunk until it reaches the height you desire, then hack off the top. You'll have to frequently shape the head or it will get away from you, but at least you'll have a trunk without many side branches and all the "sucker" growth from the base of the plant. Kim
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That is interesting, I am in the California East Bay Area and have been pruning to my eye and leaf-strip often. Anything I do not like I remove. I am very new to the world of roses so every success is a lovely accident. I loved him saying to get intimate with your roses and learn their indivisuality. I have been feeling that more and more- what I do may not work but I begin to find what is better and continue in that direction. Maybe lots of us are afraid of growing roses because of all the 'rules' and they differ for each type, like computers, we fear some devastating catastrophy. The longer I share our land with roses the more I appreciate how forgiving of my mistakes they can be, and my pc simply forces me to learn more, nothing horrific, frustrating but learn and go on. I do not find his guidance fearful but more open to learn in your own garden. He makes instruction fun! And of course you already picked up that I am not roses in a row but love weaving them together. I'm surprised how the simple drawing are quicker to understand than photographs, no distractions from the idea expressed. Bill, I am so grateful for this excellent book and I paid for it so I can underline, highlight, get it dirty and let it live in my garden with me for quick reference and/or inspiration! I would love to watch him prune! I'm dyslexic and reading is work, you have given me my favorite book. Thanks.....
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Genetic drift in roses is quite common, and CB is no exception, that's why we have upright shrub CB, Cl CB, Rita Sammons, various "Sweetheart" roses, etc. Sometimes later clone lines may be infected with RMV, which could account for the difference in vigor. There are other possibilities, too... had, say, someone noticed a seedling 100 years ago which was CB x self, which was true to type, would we be able to tell if it had found its way into commerce as CB, even if (stricty speaking) it wasn't? Whatever the explanation is, I'm sure that you know which one you'll want to take cuttings from.
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Thank you Les, good advice. I have been watering every day, and clematis twice a day. By now, I am the one who needs an extra shot of water. :-) Thank you for your encouragement, Organic. Mme Caroline is gorgeous. The blooms are medium size, but very full, hold their color very well, no mottling, some fragrance, very clean and vigorous. About BB in comparison with AIP. Here is a picture of that bouquet I cut. BB is pinker, a more uniform color whereas AIP is often cream with pink outer petals. BB blotches some but not as bad as AIP. It is about three times as thorny, and maybe three times as stingy with blooms. Rebloom is much slower, and the fragrance is not as exquisite. I think its assets are a good color and bigger blooms. I find it a prettier rose (when it blooms). The rebloom on AIP is amazingly fast, and it gives me about 50 blooms a flush, compared to maybe 10 for BB. They are about the same age, but AIP is a standard. Sorry for such a long reply. I got my Gerty from Regan, rescued at the their fall clearance. I don't remember if it is grafted. I cut the octopus arms promptly off, she doesn't mind at all. My Cecille is a monster once-blooming climber. We keep it because it obscures the neighbor's house, is evergreen and blooms generously in a mostly shady spot with lots of tree root competition. Colette is a Romantica. It has a sport, Lunar Mist, which is yellow with white edges. When I saw it at the nursery today the plants were in bloom, and out of maybe 10 they had in stock two or three were already sporting back to Colette. Very interesting. Masha
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Thrip
18 years ago
Simple. If your not worried about pruning it away from something else or greatly reducing it's size for any reason just
(a)Cut off dead or senile wood low down
(b)Remove spent sprays
(c)Tidy up anything untidy
This process will leave you with a bush only minimumly reduced in size which is ideal for this class of rose.
MrThrip
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blacknwhitemob
18 years ago
Chainsaw!!! Vrooooooooooooom!! Bzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!
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Thrip
18 years ago
blacknwhitemob?
Your a dairy farmer who runs a herd of freisians by any chance?
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lozza
18 years ago
No, that would be Blacknwhite herd.
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blacknwhitemob
18 years ago
That reminds me Loz ol fella, next time yer going past you will have to do a positive on our cl CB, been in 20 years so maybe it is, maybe it aint. I presume it is the real mccoy.
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annabel__WA
18 years ago
Pete recommend removing one old growth per year on climbers, so I am going to try that. He also said not to remove the new long canes as that was where the flowers would be.
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Lynne1
18 years ago
Well I chain sawed mine, leaving 3 new long shoots, I can have a bonfire with the rest, didnt prune it last year and it has been hugging all who pass, wonder why they dont appreciate that? Magpies are breeding early this year up here, how is it elswhere?
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Snodge
18 years ago
Nothing obvious here yet...but then the only time I really notice is when there's little dead chicks or blue egg shells lying around the yard. Guess from currawongs or maggies or something getting stuck into the ferals. Hope so.
Last year the Blue wrens bred in the garden, but I didn't notice till the chicks had left the nest and we're begging parents for food sitting around in the garden.
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Bluebelle_Riverina
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks everyone. As I don't have an electric hedge trimmer and our chainsaw is too heavy for me to lift, I attacked them with the secateurs and lond handled loppers. I was ruthless, but then they hadn't been pruned last year as I was put off by all the green growth. Now they've got plenty off chance to grow again, and the snow ball tree that is probably growing too close to them has a chance to breathe. Who knows what I'll do next year!
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