Taking care of roses
Whoever owns roses in their garden naturally wants to look after them in the right way so that they can fully develop their beauty. From spring to late autumn there are care measures that contribute to the roses' health - and thus to their magnificent radiance.
In addition, you can also actively work with roses in winter, because as long as the ground is not frozen, the woody plants can be planted very well. Here, too, it is important to pay attention to certain aspects so that the planting is a success and the new garden inhabitant develops as desired.
The most important and perhaps most complicated question for many rose enthusiasts is how to prune roses properly. The purpose of pruning roses is to keep them flowering and healthier, and to rejuvenate them from time to time.
Pruning roses
Important question first: Do my roses bloom once in summer for 3 to 6 weeks (so-called "once-blooming roses") or do they bloom from May to June with interruptions or continuously until frost ("more often-blooming roses")? Once-blooming roses form their flowers only on the previous year's or older wood, more frequently-blooming roses also on the fresh wood. This means that you must never cut off the fresh shoots of once-blooming roses, because otherwise the future flowers will be cut off.
How do I cut?
Slightly diagonally and just 1 to 2 cm above an eye (the green bud on a shoot).
When do I cut?
In spring, when the forsythia are in flower.
What do I prune?
For all roses, whether they flower more often or once, whether bedding or climbing roses, first cut out frostbitten, diseased, injured and too thin, weak wood, right down to the healthy wood. The pith must no longer be brown but greenish white. (Thinning and health pruning)
Often flowering roses (bedding roses, noble roses, dwarf roses) are then shortened to about 30 cm. Weakly prune back strong rose shoots, more strongly prune back weak shoots. Weak pruning = weak shoots, strong pruning = strong shoots. (Flowering and topiary)
Do not prune small shrub roses as area roses every year! After planting in the first year, only frostbitten or injured wood needs to be cut back in spring. Annual pruning is also not necessary for all shrub and climbing roses.
From June to the beginning of September you can cut off all wilted flowers with one or two leaves, then your rose will flower again more and faster, but cannot form rose hips. (Summer pruning)
Removing the wild shoots: Almost all garden roses are grafted onto a wild rose rootstock. The rootstock can sometimes sprout under the grafting site. If possible, this wild shoot must be removed at the root at the point of attachment in the soil, because otherwise the noble shoots will be overgrown and wither away. If a fresh shoot looks different (usually light green, smaller foliage), carefully expose it and tear it off at the root when it comes out from under the grafting site.
