A few helpful tips for growing healthy rose bushes

I don't like to write a gardening column until about a week before it is to be published for a very specific reason. I want to answer questions that are currently on the minds of Heartland gardeners. The current questions that I have been fielding are as follows: "When should I prune back my roses? How far back can I prune them?"

I like to prune roses in the early spring for several reasons. Roses are deciduous; that is, they lose their leaves in the winter. When I get ready to prune roses, I want to be able to see exactly where I want to make my pruning cuts. With that in mind, I will be able to view the rose plant best early in the spring, just as the new leaves are emerging.

Rose shoots sometimes will freeze back if we have extremely cold periods in the Heartland. The frozen tissue of the cane usually turns black in color. The extent of dieback will be determined by how cold the temperature is, and how long the cold spell lasts. By pruning in the early spring you can easily identify dead tissue and eliminate it.

When pruning knockout roses, hybrid teas, floribundas, etc. I like to prune them back no shorter than 18 inches. Several rose gardeners tell me they like to prune them back only to 24 inches. How far back you prune will depend upon where in the landscape they are planted. If they are under a window, you may want to keep them shorter. If they form a hedge you may prune them back only to 24 inches.

Do not prune climbing roses back to 18 or 24 inches. You may reduce the number of blooms that you can enjoy next year. Only eliminate damaged branches, or those branches that may be growing in such a direction that changes the form of the plant.

After I have given directions to inquisitive gardeners on rose pruning, I still get the question, "But, can I prune my roses in the fall?" The answer is, "Of course, you can."

If you prune in the fall you should leave the pruned canes longer than 18 to 24 inches. In the event of that very cold winter I mentioned, a bush that has been pruned to 18 inches may have 6 inches to 9 inches of dieback. You will have to prune the bushes again in the spring to remove dead tissue as the leaves start emerging. What you may have left is a bush that is only 9 to 12 inches tall.

Rose bushes should be pruned to eliminate damaged branches and keep the plant in good shape. (Fred Lynch)

If there is no cold spell in the winter, you will have a bush that is probably taller than you wanted to have it after pruning. You will still have to prune the bush in the spring to get it to the height you want.

Since I am a lazy gardener -- my wife Marilyn will attest to that -- I like to prune roses in the spring so I don't have to deal with the results of the variable winter weather in the Heartland.

While on the subject of roses, I would recommend that you begin fertilizing your roses in the spring as the new leaves begin to pop out. Find one that is specific to roses and one that contains a systemic insecticide to help fight off the onslaught of Japanese beetles that often attack roses.

If you have had problems with black spot on any of the roses in your landscape, you may also want to make a dormant application of a fungicide to reduce the potential problem you may face next spring.

If you don't have a rose bush in your landscape, now is a great time to plant one. It is the only plant that I know of that blooms its heart out from early spring to late fall here in the Heartland.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63702-0699 or by email to news@semissourian.com.