Stem roses intoxicate the senses with furious blossoms when you trim the crown every year. In contrast to the classic rose cut, the cut requires a modified approach. Read this guide to find out when and how to cut rose stems correctly.
When and how should trunk roses be cut?
Stem roses are best cut in spring when the forsythias are blooming. First remove dead or damaged shoots, cut remaining crown branches back to 3 to 5 eyes, holding the scissors at a slight angle. Cut back dead flowers in summer until the next, fully formed leaflet is reached.
Best time is in spring
Experienced rose gardeners do not cut their standard roses according to the calendar. Depending on the region, the optimal time can be delayed by up to three weeks. Nature provides an unmistakable indication of when the window of opportunity for rose pruning opens. When the forsythia blooms, the ideal cutting date for the queen of flowers has arrived. This includes the crowns of trunk roses.
Cut standard roses like floribunda roses
Stem roses have a special position when it comes to pruning care. This is a valuable rose variety that is grafted onto a trunk as a crown. The transition from the trunk to the noble crown, the so-called finishing point, becomes a floral “needle eye”. The aim of pruning care is to encourage the grafting center to continuously sprout young rose branches. The procedure is similar to the pruning care of floribunda roses. How to do it right:
- In the first step, thin out dead, damaged and sickly shoots
- Cut back remaining crown branches to 3 to 5 eyes
- Place rose scissors 5 mm above a bud
- Hold the scissors at a slight angle so that rain and irrigation water drains away quickly
- Basic rule: the weaker a shoot, the stronger the pruning
Starting with the fourth year, we recommend continuous rejuvenation. To do this, select the oldest scaffold shoot to cut it off at the base on Astring. The measure stimulates the sprouting of young branches within the grafting center, of which you leave the strongest specimen as a successor the following year. To prevent the crown of a stem rose from becoming matted in the long term, you should limit the number of crown shoots to ensure growth that is flooded with light.
Cleaning the crown in summer
If your standard rose is being grafted with a rose variety that blooms more often, further pruning is part of the care program in summer. If three quarters of the flowers have withered, set the stage for a second bloom. To do this, cut withered flowers back to the next, fully formed leaflet.
Due to the exposed position of a standard rose crown, isolated, withered flowers are already unpleasantly noticeable. Rose gardeners with a penchant for a consistently well-groomed appearance cut out each dead rose petal individually. The reward for the effort is a seamless transition from the first to the second flower festival.
Tip
A rule of thumb when it comes to pruning techniques is disregarded on standard roses. The ideal cut in the upper center of the crown does not start at an outward-facing bud. To prevent an unsightly gap from forming in the crown, please deliberately choose a bud that points towards the inside of the crown and cut at a distance of 5 millimeters at this point.
