I'm sure that folks who are pruning experts on here will respond. I have only two things to say:

1) David Austen roses are notorious for growing MUCH bigger in warm climates than advertised - they were hybridized for the cool, overcast, rainy summer climate in England. This can result in some of them becoming HUGE in warm climates.

2) Do you know what, exactly, you want from them (or any rose?). Your description of them as "shrubs" may mean that you want them to stay, say, 3 feet tall and rounded? If the particular rose thinks it should be 8-9 feet tall and 5 feet wide in your climate, you do indeed have a pruning challenge. Personally, I would let them get as big as they like, but of course I realize that might not work for you. Your picture of Jubilee Celebration, for example, strikes me as perfect - it is acting like a bushy climber against that fence. It is covered with leaves all the way to the ground, which most climbers are not.

Anyway, there are folks on here who know about every single David Austen rose and how it grows in various climates, and I am sure someone will give you some specific pruning advice.

Jackie

Hey HY, this is where that “little pill” I want them to invent, would come in handy, wouldn’t it? It’s the story of my life. I have a small space and most roses(DA’s in particular) want to grow huge! I’m not expert enough to tell you specifically where to cut, now. I will say that when I deadhead or cut for bouquets, I cut REALLY far back, deep into the bush to (try) to keep it somewhat under control between prunings. Everything IS looking wonderful! Lisa

There are always 3 eyes to an eye node. Once you cut out the cane that stems from the main (middle) eye, two others will be produced.

Just remove unwanted laterals and cut what is left where you want. You can trim the laterals to 2 or 3 eyes if you want or you can remove them completely if they look too thin. Just experiment and next year you will have a better idea of what you're doing with the particular shrub.

Alana, what book is that? I'd like to get one.

Thank you!! :-)

Nikthegreek - thank you for your advice. That is so interesting - I never knew that there are 3 eyes to an eye node - that really helps to answer my question! I thought once a leaf node had a stem growing out of it, it was "used up". That's why I was thinking I had to cut above an "un-used" lead node with a non-developed bud eye - but in a multi-branching cane, that means going a long way down before you find an "un-used" eye! Now that you've explained that, I feel more confident.

Alana - that was so kind of you to take the trouble to share your book. Really helpful! I'd love to know what it is too, so maybe I can get a copy as well.

Lisa - hah, yes, I thought you'd be able to sympathise. Like you, I have been cutting a "greedy" amount whenever I deadhead or cut flowers for the house - but even doing that, I can't keep on top of these roses' growth!

Jacqueline - thanks, yes, I know the DA roses get very big in warm climates with long growing seasons like mine, so may not be ideal for a small suburban garden - unfortunately, you can't always control who/what you fall in love with - haha! And I think I'd rather have roses I love than roses that are more "appropriate" for my garden but which don't do anything for me.

I'm actually fine with the size they are now (around 5ft tall) - they look "just right" at the moment (see photo below) - but since they grew that in the four months since planting and are likely to grow several more feet in the next few months, I thought if I cut them down to 3ft now, then they can grow back up to 5ft again (you know, like deleting some pictures from your camera so you can make space for more photos! ;-) )

If I don't reduce them now, I'm worried that they'll just add their new growth to the 5ft they already are and then I WILL end up with 8 - 10ft monsters that are too big for my garden! LOL

Oh, and I'm sorry - that photo was probably misleading. Jubilee Celebration isn't actually against the fence - she is a free-standing bush at the front of that narrow bed. There's actually about a foot between her and the fence and there's a delphinium & a hollyhock growing in that space but they've finished flowering now so I've cut down their stalks. I have Pierre de Ronsard (Eden) growing on the fence behind Jubilee Celebration (and he wants to take over the world!). JC is very upright actually and fits the space she's in now very well - as long as she remains around 5ft tall.

Here is a picture of the whole garden, which might give a better idea. I've labelled all the roses. This was taken last week when JC was still having her flush.

And from another angle (this one shows more clearly that Jubilee Celebration isn't against the fence).

Thanks so much again everyone for your helpful comments!

~ HY

Agree that you're never going to be able to make a taller growing type into a Floribunda. And summer is not the time for hard pruning.

HY what is that tropical looking shrub/tree behind Pat Austin? And is it fragrant? Does it need lots of water? It looks incredible fragrant and lush! Could just be my imagination hoping it is though. :-)

I am not a pro at all... but rest assured that you could probably prune your roses almost down to the ground in late winter every year and they would most likely pop right back up as healthy as ever if you really wanted to keep their size in check. There’s a few on here in Australia (mostly on the rose forum) who you can hit up for local advice. Curdles, Fragrancenutter, Tangles, Trish and I think a few others too.

That particular book was this :

Thanks Alana, I'm going to check it out. I have a lot of rose books, but I like that diagram of pruning different types. I don't have a book that has that.

I have that Sala book too, and it is very good.

Evelyn grew 14-ft. tall here -- which is why it is no longer here. You may not be able to control who you love, but . . . .
Claire Martin observed that in California's mild climate and long days, roses described by Austin as being under 4-ft. would probably be a manageable 5-ft. or so here. Roses advertised as over 4-ft. would turn into "Jolly Green Giants" and might best be grown as climbers, espaliered out to encourage lateral bloom.

Quite true, although in England summer days are much longer than in California. The difference is due to temps, sunshine and duration of the growing season.

My problem with Austins that get to be giants is that they don't seem to bloom well. I've tried training them as climbers but it hasn't worked out well so far. I am not sure whether this is just due to lack of resources (poor soil, not enough fertilizing),or whether it's just that the plants simply aren't capable of supporting all that green growth and blooming profusely as well. I plan to experiment with both pruning them back severely and with trying to fertilize more,but I confess that, with all the roses that I have, I find it difficult to coddle specific ones. This is the main reason why I'm not a big fan of Austins in general.

Bart,

Try doing your winter pruning earlier. I've noticed by chance that, in my climate, having winter pruned some Austins by Christmas coaches them to flower during the cooler early spring season which helps them be more floriferous. Of course, how early one can prune is dependent on expected freezes.

I will try it next year. Some people in this area do prune before Christmas; main reason why I've never tried it is because normally I'm too busy planting stuff at that time of year,but since I'm intending to add fewer plants per year in the future, I can hopefully fit it in.Besides I definitely want to encourage early blooming. Thanks for the tip!

Oh Jeri! My heart sank when I read your comment about Evelyn growing to 14F for you. Oh dear, I hope she won’t do that here.

I agree with Nik about pruning the Austins earlier. I’ve been doing this with Darcey Bussell, simply because she’s in a small bed, where I like to wintersow seeds. I need the space and light in December, so she gets pruned very early. She responds by blooming early and abundantly, although she’s a good bloomer anyway. I also give the giant Austins a summer pruning in the summer, if I feel like it. I’ve found that in my warm climate, they’re pretty forgiving of this sort of treatment. Lisa