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To Shovel Prune or not?

Sara-Ann Z6B OK

7 years ago

When you have a bed that has both vigorous and not so vigorous roses, 4th season, is it time to SP the not so vigorous ones?

i have a few duplicates in this bed, and for the most part if one is vigorous, they both are, same way with the ones that aren't.

Two Tiffany, both vigorous

Two Perfume Delight, both vigorous

Two Fragrant Plum, not vigorous

Two Bewitched, not vigorous

I am most disappointed in Bewitched, because I had two that did good for several years. They never got huge, but they were healthy and they were both good bloomers, and put out gorgeous blooms all season long. I hate to give up on roses I'm fond of, if there's any hope, but I'm not sure there's any hope for these and a few of my other roses to do any better!

Featured Answer

zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

You could plant the non vigorous ones close together in their own bed. Locating them in their own bed reduces the chance of unseen root competition.

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Comments (6)

barbarag_happy
7 years ago
interesting advice, Zack!

Sara Ann, it's a personal decision. Over the years I've lost patience with fussy roses, stingy roses, and just plain bad plants (no matter how divine the bloom).

You can surely find a better rose with blooms similar to these. In my climate I'd replace them with Eliza and Plum Perfect. I choose roses based on their hot, not cold, tolerance since i'm in sizzling 8A SE Virginia.
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Moses, Pittsburgh, W. PA., zone 5/6, USA
7 years ago
Shovel prune them, and don't look back. 4 years is plenty of time to prove a rose's garden worthiness. There are so many roses from which to select your replacements, to stick with roses that have disappointed you is unnecessary.
Ken (N.E.GA.mts) 7a/b
7 years ago
Go get your loopers and the shovel. Get them out now so you can get that area ready for spring planting before winter sets in. I just snagged out Royal Amethyst. As much as I loved this rose while growing it in Fl., it has been pathetic up here.
kentucky_rose zone 6
7 years ago
Sara-Ann, how were the roses the previous 3 seasons? If season 4 is a repeat of the establishing past, I would SP. You could wait til the end of growing season and if they don't rebound, SP them. I have my eye on Deja Blu in my garden. You will feel liberated afterwards.
Sara-Ann Z6B OK
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Thank you so much everyone. I'm not even sure why I would hesitate to SP the roses I'm talking about, because it's obvious they're growing backwards, while my more vigorous roses keep getting better! I want to do my best to try to find the best roses possible for my area, and I definitely need to make room for the new ones I plan to get. Kentucky, when I planted these roses in 2013, they did great that year, they all seemed vigorous, and the majority seemed pretty good in 2014, but I noticed an obvious difference last year. In a different bed I have a Ch-Ching planted and I saw an old picture, I think from 2014, and it looked really healthy, and had quite a few healthy blooms, surprised me how good it looked. It's not doing very good at this time.

If all my roses grew like Belinda's Dream, Beverly, Liebeszauber, Orchid Romance, Poseidon, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Sunsprite, I'd be very pleased.

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