24 Jan Time to Prune those Roses!

It’s that time of year again, January, time to prune those roses.  I’ve been doing pruning the entire month of January.  It’s still not to late to prune those beautiful roses.  Around Santa Barbara, you have to force the rose to go into dormancy, so you need to remove all the leaves and prune almost 2/3 off of the rose.

From what I learned from the Rose Society and other gardeners was that you want to keep about 3-5 main stocks, usually the thickest ones and healthiest.

Making the cut is the hardest because a novice won’t know where to start.  I would suggest to take one part of the rose and start there.  Start pruning from the top down.  Always make the cut about 1/2 inch above the node or the bud.  You usually want to make sure the bud is facing outward, not inward toward the center of the rose.

The idea is to give the rose more ventilation and air as that is what it prefers and does best with.  You want to promote thicker healthier roses, so make sure to cut of the unhealthy and dead limbs.  Any limb growing towards the inside of the rose, clip that off.  Make you cuts at a 45 degree angle and be careful not to get stuck!!   Haha.  Happy Gardening!