Rose trees/standards, pruning, alfalfa, etc questions.
Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
5 years ago
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cutting back, pruning, etc.
Comments (2)when we bought our house there were 32 crepe myrtles inthe yard. the previous owner had NEVER trimmed any of them nor any of the other trees other than 1 apple tree. the CMs along the drive are roughly 20 ft apart, yet when we moved inthey were all grown together almost in a hedge! i had to do sever pruning to get them to look like a CM should look, and even now 3 years later some look like crap because they have not filled back in. mild pruning is best, never take more than about 1/3 the total volume of the tree away at any one cutting. mine suffered because i took about 60% and it took them a couple years to start recovering. you can cut the tops completely out of a CM, leaving just the main trunks, but i prefer to just selectively prune them instead of commiting "Crepe Murder" as the local horts call it. as far as the compost heap, just keep piling it on, it will start back cooking again....See MoreTree Rose Question
Comments (6)I bought two this year for pots either side of a gate. They are from David Austin directly. They have grafted a long standard cane onto an established rootstock, then they have been budded at the top with 4 buds spread all round, from the top bud to the 4th is about 6" down the cane - each has sprouted 3 stems so there are 12 coming out of the various buds at the top. They are (relatively) newly budded, you can still see the flaps in the bark from the T buds. If yours are like that, you will see no gnarly union at the top, they look just like they are its own buds. I was very impressed with them, seen them with one maybe two buds usually not this many!! My only issue with them so far is that they don't seem to have disbudded the standard cane that well, there are a few buds swelling - easy to pinch out though. I think one bud with three shoots, like a normal grafted rose would look kind of uneven at first, presume they will come right after a while. The only thing with mine though was that they were bare roots collected from the nursery, I always wonder if they are a little less vicious with the pruning when they are collected. These just looked like nicely pruned roses!!...See MoreHard pruning, compost, alfalfa, and manure
Comments (34)I'm glad that I came back to my post to report that the ARS link above is confusing and contradictory. Lori_elf is right, experience rules over what ARS dictates. My Marchesa Bocella was a tiny band this summer. When I dug it up, the roots shrank in my alkaline clay, so my pruning wasn't the problem. The only statement that makes sense from the ARS' link is: "Avoid pruning Old Garden Roses the first two years, let them get established first." Some OGRs' once-bloomers bloom on old wood, and Marchesa Bocella blooms on both old wood and new wood. The above statement of "Avoid pruning ... let them get established" applies to wimpy own-roots as well, I don't prune mini-roses and Hybrid teas, both are wimpy as own-roots in my cold zone 5a. If I prune them too hard, they become appetizers for bunnies. However, I'm ruthless in pruning aggressive octopusy Austins like Evelyn, which throw 3 feet canes as a 2-months old baby. This link for Southern CA mild coastal climates make it much clearer than ARS's link: "Gallica, Damask, Alba, Centifolia, and Moss roses are OGRs that only bloom in spring. Prune these right after they finish blooming; this is usually sometime in early summer. The Damask roses in particular resent hard pruning, so it is best to lightly prune flowering shoots back a few inches. Repeat-blooming OGRs like: Portland, Bourbon, Hybrid Perpetual, Perpetual Damask, and Perpetual Moss roses are pruned at the same time as modern roses (January to February). Treat these roses as you would Hybrid Teas. Strong growing Hybrid Perpetual, roses require hard pruning to promote flowering, so plan to remove at least one half of last year's growth to produce better flowers. Tea and China roses produce flowers on small twiggy growth and should only be lightly pruned ... We have found they respond badly to a winter pruning. We have found that pruning Tea and China roses in the hot part of summer produces quick regrowth and they don't sit around moping for years as they tend to do if you prune them in the cold part of the year... A common complaint directed at the once-flowering Gallica roses is that they often produce very few flowers in our mild coastal regions. Gallica roses in particular require winter chilling to flower; often our mild winters are just not cold enough to produce flowers. " See the link below for Mild Coastal Southern CA tips on OGR's. Here is a link that might be useful: Huntington Botanical Garden on pruning OGRs'...See MoreGolden Sunblaze Miniature Rose Tree dimension question.
Comments (2)Well, first, there were two yellow miniatures sold as Golden Sunblaze. If the tag has the code name on it (something like MEIcupag), it will let you know which of the two it might be. The first one sold under that name was Ralph Moore's Rise'n Shine. Meilland didn't have any minis of their own breeding when the miniature boom started, so they licensed other peoples' minis to be sold under their trade names. Once they had bred their own, they substituted them for the trade names. So, yours could be either rose. In Zone 5b, both will be quite a bit smaller than they will in warmer, longer seasons, but I would think either could grow to about an 18" X 18" head on top of the 24" trunk. Perhaps if they aren't pruned hard each year and don't suffer significant winter damage or die back, they may grow larger. Congratulations on your bargain! Kim...See Moresocks
5 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
5 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
5 years agoNeed2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
3 years ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)