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vmabuck
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Need some assistance with a few Rose plants

I am needing some pruning advice for these Rose plants. I am fairly certain we are passed all of our frosts and I want to trim these up properly.

It looks like a lot of dead/sick wood at the bottom of these plants.

Any ideas how I should prune these?



Rose 1

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/IMG_2907.JPG[/img]

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/IMG_3055.JPG[/img]

Rose 2

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/IMG_3058.JPG[/img]

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/IMG_3059.JPG[/img]

Rose 3

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/IMG_3062.JPG[/img]

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/IMG_3064.JPG[/img]

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vmabuck
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Location: Northern NM

Should I chop that dead wood off?

What about dead wood at the base but it has green shoots coming out farther up?

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Kisal
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If there are green shoots coming out above the "dead" wood, then it is not "dead wood."

Sorry I can't offer you any real assistance, but I'm not really into roses. :(

The Helpful Gardener
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Wow, these have really been let go... :(

Here's [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/rose/]some reading[/url]from the front page on roses to start with... check out the pruning stuff especially...

Kisal is right about the dead wood; you should certainly take care of the obvious but anything supporting green further up is not dead. That doesn't mean we shouldn't prune some of this; it was let go for far too long and some reclaimation pruning is in order... If you have truly no experience with roses you may want to hire a pro to tackle it, but follow the leads in the articles and you should be okay...

Some of these are frankly years from looking like anything and if I was maintaining the property I might just start over. The soil looks depleted (certainly part of the issue; roses like rich, humusy soils) and that would be a good place to start. But with the effort you are going to have to put these back to right, replacing would give you a better bang in shorter time...

HG

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vmabuck
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I think I will just give it a go then.

I have some ideas.

I will post some post pruning pics...

The Helpful Gardener
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You might just whack them back low and see if you can resprout them; look for latent buds down low...

HG

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uniquegardenplants
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Should rejuvinate fine but there is a lot of diseased wood that is present and keeping the rose from remaining vigorous. Cut back hard, to about 15" and dispose of all the old wood. Clean the ground around the base...rake up any old leaves or pieces of stem that may be infected. Mix up a concentration of high nitrogen liquid fertilizer (Peters, Miracle Grow hose end feeder, etc.) and soak them in well. They will uptake liquid food much quicker than granular, you should see new buds breaking in about 2-3 weeks. Liquid feed about every 10-14 days through May. A light layer of mulch will supress weeds and keep moisture in and around the root system. With a little tlc, these should come back like a brand new plant!

good luck!

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vmabuck
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Location: Northern NM

Well, I trimmed one plant.

Should I take it down even lower?

[img]https://www.azbuck.com/images/outside/garden%20photos/rosetrim.JPG[/img]

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uniquegardenplants
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I know cutting it back even harder seems a bit harsh but it should rejuvinate just fine. Go down to about 15" or so from the ground and look for new shoots that are breaking from the individual stems, cut back to right above those nodes at a 45 degree angle. From the picture, it looks like some new shoots are already breaking down low, that's where I'd prune back to.

Even if there are not any new shoots breaking yet on a stem, go ahead and make a clean cut back to a node. Latent or hidden buds will then be stimulated to emerge from that cut area. Should see new stems beginning to pop out in a couple of weeks.

The Helpful Gardener
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I concur with UGP, but pruning is just the start of what these plants need... and you should prune off flowers as they fade; looks like one from last ear has still evaded the shears...

Mulching with compost or at least some pine bark or such is in order to reestablish some humus in the soil, cool those roots, and maintain some moisture. Roses are heavy feeders and need more than the soil I am looking at will provide. Organic fertilizers like fish hydrolysate and kelp would help with all of the above as well; chemical fertilizers are a quick fix with long term repercussions, so I avoid those, especially in depleted soils. Regular waterings will help these roses out tremendously as well...

HG



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