Today’s Garden Ideas

Many gardeners love having beautiful roses in their garden but aren’t exactly sure how to care for them, other than weeding around the roots. It’s true that while roses are easy to maintain, they do have certain maintenance required that keeps them looking fresh and beautiful for the entire season or year, depending on where you live. Pruning is one of the these very important maintenance steps and although you may be tempted to take your shears and start snipping away at anything that you don’t find appealing, pruning the wrong things could lead to rose bush disaster. Find out now how to easily and properly prune your roses!

The first step in pruning is to get rid of any part of the plant that is not healthy. You will readily be able to detect this as old or dead wood looks black or brown instead of the thriving green that healthy rose bushes have. This is essential to maintain and prolong the life of the roses as any unhealthy areas of the plant will spread quickly to the healthy areas and infect them with disease as well. Now you are ready to really prune!

To properly prune, start by making small cuts at a forty-five degree angle just above the buds. To ensure that you do not attract insects or disease, make sure that all cuts are complete and clean. If you are unsure as to what rose buds look like, they appear as tiny balls along the stem. Be especially careful that you do not remove the buds as the areas the buds are in will encourage more rose bud growth. Accidentally snipping away a few of these buds will not damage the plant there will simply be less roses once the bush is in full bloom. As you are pruning, be sure to look for buds or blooms that are facing inwards. Pruning these away will allow a new bloom that will face out to pop up in its place.

Sealing the plant where the cut has been made can do wonders for maintaining the health and life of the plant. White wood glue can be placed on the cut to quickly seal it. Sealing is an important step in pruning because it will help the plant adjust easier to the pruning process. When you are finished cutting, make sure that you pick up droppings and debris when you are finished so that they do not attract bugs or disease.

Pruning doesn’t only need to be done during the growing season but also throughout the entire year to ensure that in the next season, you still have beautiful and healthy roses. Always be on the lookout for deadheads, debris, and rotting or diseased parts of the plant that could quickly be snipped away.