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Pruning roses - how early?

prairiemoon2 z6b MA

last year

last modified: last year

Good morning on the second day of spring! It's supposed to be great weather today - sunny and 60F where I am in zone 6. My ground is not frozen and crocus are blooming and daffs about to. I see leaf buds about to open on a Honeysuckle and it's intertwined with roses and I need to trim those. I'm not ready to add compost or alfalfa meal yet, I have to replenish my supplies. And we may still get some cold nights in the 20s or even more snow, so is that a reason to wait to start pruning? When do all of you prune?

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Comments (4)

Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
last year
I also have crocus blooming right now but no daffs yet. Personally I'm waiting until the end of April, we usually get one last big snow here at the end of April and I plan to prune after that. I don't have roses breaking leaf buds yet and I don't want to stimulate the plant into doing that too early when I know we have freezes in the future.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA thanked Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
last year
Thanks, that makes sense to me. We also could get snow in late April. I was just outside looking at them and they don't seem to be even thinking about making leaf buds. [g] It's no problem for me to wait. I have plenty of other things to do.
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Glad to help! If you're happy with how the rose looks there's not usually a wrong way to do such things. In my yard, I probably am not as enthusiastic about cutting my laterals way back unless they're actively annoying me, since I want to keep the laterals as the blooming canes when convenient. I just bend those laterals sideways like I bend the main cane sideways, and then the laterals put out more laterals that put out more laterals...and the climber starts building that fan shape. You don't have to do that, but it helps increase the blooming over time. Those skinny lateral canes will fatten up if you leave them, rather than making that cane start over to produce new blooming canes. Not wrong to remove them if they bug you, but there's a tradeoff in blooming profusion and frequency. I also don't cut back canes where the leaves are unsightly since you want maximum canes to support more leaf and bloom development. If you can't stand the sight of the leaves it's OK to remove them, but the plant still benefits from the leaves even if there are holes. There's some sort of formula for maybe 35 leaves to support one bloom to keep in mind to increase blooming. Not set in stone of course, but I like to leave as many healthy canes and tolerable leaves as possible when pruning. Sounds like you did a great job getting things tidied up. Having a garden that brings you joy is part of the point of the activity and it sounds like you were getting tired in a good cause. Cynthia
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Sharon z8b Texas
last year
I was taught to prune roses around Valentines Day, but I am in Texas. I think you are fine pruning them now in your zone. Even with cold nights still expected. I, personally, think it's better to prune them before they start leafing out.

The David Austin website says: "We recommend pruning in late winter/early spring, when the first growth is beginning. This is generally between February and April, depending on your zone. It is OK to prune earlier, but it can be more difficult to identify the less healthy stems that you will want to prune out.

Pruning is essential if you really want your rose to thrive. English Roses are naturally vigorous and, if left without pruning, may become large and leggy shrubs.

The main purpose of pruning is to create a shapely, attractive shrub, with good structure, you can do this by simply removing parts of the plant during the non-flowering season. Pruning encourages fresh new growth and plentiful blooms for the following season."

We are now past April. Maybe someone from your zone can advise.
0
Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z5
last year
last modified: last year
Pruning when the forsythia and daffodils are blooming works for me.

Moses

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