Shrub roses are supposed to be massive. Once my ex father in law was visiting, and cut my Rosa glauca in half because all he was familiar with was tea roses!!! I was flabbergasted.
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lol I gotta do something. The poor thing is so over grown and top heavy that if its not tied up it falls over on itself... I have a really nice pare of large clippers, but I'm not so sure that even those are heavy enough to cut through the thickest stalk... I have already taken off the obviously dead wood, but have been afraid to cut back much of the living, as I have NO clue how far to take it back. Do I prune it like a tree and only remove 30%, or can I do a more drastic pruning and remove 1/2 or more...?
Can you tell I have no clue what to do with this rose? lol I had someone that I thought I had hired. Paid them and everything, and they never once touched this rose. But every year I get blooms. All through spring, and into late fall. This plant was still budding out flowers in late december of this past year. Very pretty, medium sized, pink roses. The humming birds LOVE them for some reason.
Also I am not sure if this is supposed to be a bush or a climber... It has nothing to climb onto, so I am guessing it suposed to be a bush, but really its more like a small rose tree.
I talked to my adoptive Mother who is a rose fanatic. Sounds like if your area is subject to late frosts, then let the pruning go till you know your safe. After that you are going to want to manage the prune over a couple of seasons because of how massive it is. Like you said you don't want to stress it by taking to much off. Hope this helps.
Oh and a pruning book from the library might have pics to help ya visualize.
Quote:
lol I gotta do something. The poor thing is so over grown and top heavy that if its not tied up it falls over on itself... I have a really nice pare of large clippers, but I'm not so sure that even those are heavy enough to cut through the thickest stalk... I have already taken off the obviously dead wood, but have been afraid to cut back much of the living, as I have NO clue how far to take it back. Do I prune it like a tree and only remove 30%, or can I do a more drastic pruning and remove 1/2 or more...?
Can you tell I have no clue what to do with this rose? lol I had someone that I thought I had hired. Paid them and everything, and they never once touched this rose. But every year I get blooms. All through spring, and into late fall. This plant was still budding out flowers in late december of this past year. Very pretty, medium sized, pink roses. The humming birds LOVE them for some reason.
Also I am not sure if this is supposed to be a bush or a climber... It has nothing to climb onto, so I am guessing it suposed to be a bush, but really its more like a small rose tree.
I talked to my adoptive Mother who is a rose fanatic. Sounds like if your area is subject to late frosts, then let the pruning go till you know your safe. After that you are going to want to manage the prune over a couple of seasons because of how massive it is. Like you said you don't want to stress it by taking to much off. Hope this helps.
Oh and a pruning book from the library might have pics to help ya visualize.
