Is rose cutting an art or even a science? So much has been written about the correct cutting of roses that many laypeople no longer dare to use secateurs. But take heart: roses are much more robust than you think!
When and how do you cut roses in spring?
Pruning roses in spring is ideally done between the end of March and the beginning of April, when the rose buds swell. When cutting, base shoots should be removed, sleeping eyes should be stimulated and the proportions of the shrub should be maintained.
Cut roses between the end of March and the beginning of April
Traditionally, it is time for spring pruning when the rosebuds swell. This very often coincides with the forsythia flowering, which can be a good indication not only for inexperienced gardeners. The best date for pruning is between the end of March and the beginning of April. Don't be afraid of this step: There is no ideal recipe for cutting roses, just a few basic rules.
Why should you cut roses at all?
When pruning roses, the gardener imitates a completely natural process: game browsing. In nature, bushes and other plants are repeatedly eaten by wild animals, which is why, for example, garden plants that have not been cultivated much, such as wild roses, can continually rejuvenate themselves from the base. However, most cultivated roses have lost this ability, so you have to cut such a rose. In the garden, the scissors (€14.00 on Amazon) do the job of a deer.
The basic rules of rose pruning
Don't start cutting straight away, but take a moment to take a moment to look at the structure of the rose bush before cutting. Take a step back every now and then to look at the overall effect of your cutting measures - pay particular attention to good proportions.
Distinguishing old wood from young wood
You can recognize young shoots by their fresh green bark. The older they get, the more cracked they become. The solid, woody shoots take on a more grey-brown color over time. When pruning annually, you should cut the three to five-year-old shoots back to the base in order to encourage new shoots to form.
Attention: Not every type of rose is cut the same
Keep in mind, however, that single-blooming roses (which include almost all historic roses) only bloom on previous and perennial shoots - in complete contrast to the modern, multiple-blooming varieties, whose flowers are only formed on this year's shoots. For this reason, once-blooming roses are not pruned annually, but only after flowering in summer.
Cut just above sleeping eyes
An eye, visible as a red raised dot, is a bud from which a new shoot is developing. The flower shoot later develops in the leaf axil. The cut is always made about half a centimeter to a centimeter above a so-called sleeping eye, although the cut should always be made at a slight angle - then the rainwater can drain away more quickly. Shortening “wakes up” the sleeping eyes and leads to greater branching and thus more flowers. If roses are not pruned, branches will only form on the upper eyes, while the base will become bare.
Tip
Frequently flowering shrub roses are allowed to grow once for the first five years, after which they are cut back to one to two thirds or half of their height every year. It makes sense to cut in stages so that the shrub has a good shape.
