Autumn pruning is an important event that is aimed at rejuvenating and healing roses. But not all gardeners know how to carry out this procedure correctly. You can lose many valuable varieties and species if you make these mistakes when pruning bushes.
Failure to observe pruning times
If you prune roses too early in the fall, then due to the warm weather, the buds will become active and young shoots will grow. But since there is little time left before winter, they will not have time to fully form. Also, when the vegetative mass is growing, the plants spend a lot of energy and weakened they go into winter. Such bushes have a hard time surviving the winter period, get sick and die.
Therefore, roses are pruned only when the weather is consistently cold, just before the frosts. When choosing the timing, you need to take into account the climatic features of the regions:
- central Russia - mid-October;
- northern regions - late August, early September;
- southern regions - the first half of November.
You can focus on the first frosts and prune when the air temperature is -1-2 0C.
Leave leaves and extra shoots
You can not leave foliage on the branches when pruning, and it does not matter whether it is dry or still green. If you cover roses with leaves left, they will subsequently begin to rot. Rotten leaves are an ideal environment for the development of fungi and pathogenic bacteria.During the winter, they can gradually completely spread over the entire rose bush. And in the spring, having removed the cover, the gardener will discover a dead plant. Therefore, when pruning, it is important to completely remove all leaves.
Also, young, immature and thin branches should not be left. Such sprouts are too weak to survive the winter even under cover. In the first frost they will freeze and begin to rot. As a result, they will become a suitable place for fungal microflora. Therefore, there is no need to feel sorry for such growth. It should be cut off completely and only strong shoots should be left.
Trim different types of roses according to the same pattern
Each species has its own characteristics and growth patterns. Some roses bloom on last year's branches, and some on shoots that have grown this year. Therefore, it is a mistake to prune all types and varieties using one pattern.
Different types of roses are pruned in different ways:
- polyanthus - bloom on shoots of the previous and current year; when pruning, leave 6–8 shoots, shorten them by 1/3;
- floribunda - blooms only on the shoots of the current year, combined pruning is required;
- bush - bloom in the upper part of the branches, only some shoots are cut by 1/3;
- ground cover - slightly shorten strong shoots;
- climbing - bloom on the second year's vines, only the growing points are pruned, you can shorten some long shoots by 1/4.
Do not disinfect instruments and sections
When pruning plants, the blades of garden tools are constantly in contact with different plants. And if suddenly there is a diseased plant in the garden, but the symptoms of the disease have not yet appeared, then using untreated pruning shears is likely to transfer pathogenic bacteria and fungi to healthy roses.Disinfect cutting equipment with a solution of copper sulfate, alcohol, or burn the blades over a burner fire.
Also, sections should not be left unprocessed. Without disinfection, a fresh cut may become infected, which will lead to disease and death of the bush. The sections are treated immediately after the procedure with garden varnish.
When growing roses, you need to carry out all care activities correctly. It is possible to grow magnificent flowers in the garden, provided you do not make the mistakes described in the article.
