Re: pruning question
- Subject: Re: pruning question
- From: Tony and Moira Ryan t*@xtra.co.nz
- Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 09:08:37 +1300
Barbara Sargent wrote:
>
> I'm starting to prune my roses and, although I've been
> doing it for years, I have a recurring question about
> crossed branches: which one should be taken out if a new,
> thin one is crossing an old but vigorous one? This is the
> case especially with my Graham Thomas and Heritage.
Hi Barbara
I don't see why you can't keep both, if it seems a good idea, by cutting
the thin one short below where it crosses. This might help it to
strengthen up anyway and by choosing the end bud carefully you should be
able to send the new shoot growth off in another direction. On the other
hand perhaps, if the bush is getting crowded, preserving all the new
shoots may be a bad thing and some thinnning of the more spindly ones is
in order. I am not personally familar with Heritage, but I have never
seen a Graham Thomas that didn't produce masses of new shoots. This
sort of consideration is always very dependent on the essential vigour
of the bush you are dealing with and requires an individual decision
rather than using a rule-of-thumb approach..
>
> Also--I have an Iceberg which I've been pruning back to the
> first or second bud beyond the old wood. This rose puts out
> such long shoots that I'm wondering if it's a climber. How
> can I tell if it is? The branches don't arch the way other
> climbers do but it gets huge.
This is just the way Iceberg grows. It always gets hugely tall and can
be either kept as a tall bush or turned into a climber where convenient
according to how much length of shoot you leave. The line between
climbers and bushes for some of the most vigorous roses is pretty
blurred anyway and is much in the hands of the pruner and trainer.
It is one rose that is said to be impossible to ruin by bad pruning
anyway. In some park situations here they just chop the bushes across
with sheers each year and never bother with proper pruning at all. I
must admit though I have never been able to bring myself to assault one
in this fashion!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
