Roses are the symbol of love as well as the pride of a garden. With proper care and pruning, rose bushes can thrive for years and produce abundant, beautiful blooms each season. Are you curious to find out how to trim rose bushes so they can gift you the flower of love? Here is an easy and practical guide about timing rose bushes.
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The Importance of trimming rose bushes
An obvious question that hits one’s mind while finding the answers to – ‘how to trim rose bushes?’ is – ‘why to trim rose bushes?’. Can’t we just let the plants grow naturally and expect them to produce beautiful roses? – Yes we can, but there are indeed some benefits of trimming rose bushes, like –
1. Produce New cells
Whenever you prune the branches of the rose tree, it signals the tree to produce new stem cells to fill the vacant place created by pruning those branches. It ultimately results in the creation of new cells, more buds, and of course more roses.
2. Shaping the plants
You can give your rose plants the shape you wish by pruning them. This way you can maintain the compactness of the plant and your garden will look cleaner
3. Remove dead parts
Trimming helps to remove the dead parts of your rose trees which not only cleanses your trees but also helps to remove parts contacting bugs that may attack your plants in the future.
Warning: Always wear a pair of good gloves to protect your hands from the thrones. Use big scissors where you find it necessary.
How to trim rose bushes in just 5 steps
There is a very effective way to prune rose plants which is literally called PRUNE. The complete process is done in 5 steps. They are
P – Prepare the rose plants
All you need to start trimming your rose is a well-grown rose plant. The plants should be well-grown so that they can survive after the process of trimming. Plus, it does not make good sense to trim a small plant that is already compact enough.
Now the size of the rose plants varies according to the type of roses. For a basic idea, we’ve made a list of when to start trimming rose plants and some well-known rose types.
| Type of rose | Minimum height to start trimming |
|---|---|
| Miniature roses | 6-10 inches in height and width |
| Shrub roses | 15 inches approximately (can vary from 13 inches to 24 inchs) |
| Big rose plants | 30 inches |
Once your plant reaches the above-specified height, you can start trimming them to enjoy the fruit of pruning.
R – Removal
This is the most important step and hence most detailed.
In the step, we remove every necessary part of the rose plants. Carefully remove all the unnecessary parts including the dead branches and wood, any dead bud, and any branch that is affected by pests.
Look for any cane of the tree that is not green is color – because the chances are higher that these canes are either already affected or will get affected very soon.
Remove each of the aforementioned parts from the root and make sure that you do not harm your plants during the process. You can also remove canes having multiple branches if you believe them to clutter your plants.
[P.S.: Even if you do hurt any good cane mistakenly, don’t stress too much]
We recommend using big scissors in this process if you have a plant of more than 20 inches in height. Keep seeing the plant from different sides for better results.
Advice: If there are some canes that are increasing in the outwards direction, trim them off as they may attract bugs in the future.
Follow the removal process until every affected cane is removed.
To give your plant a beautiful dome shape, you can keep the canes that are in the middle a little bit taller.
If you want to try your hand scissors to trim the buds of the plant, make sure you prune the buds from the cane which are directed in a desired direction, because that’s the direction your plants will grow more.
U – Understating
In mind, be clear about the shape of the plant your want. If you like your plants to be bushy, don’t cut too many canes, if you want good airflow inside your plant, you can remove even more number of canes from your plants. Try to maintain an almost identical density of canes in your plants. This will make your plants produce even number of flowers on all sides.
N – Nourish
After you have successfully cleared all the removed prunes from your garden it’s time you nourish the rose plants to make them produce roses in the upcoming season.
Fertilization:
Just like a balanced diet for humans, every plant needs a balanced fertilization in order to get the most out of them. About 10-12 days after trimming your rose plants, supply NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) fertilizer in the soil.
Watering:
Your plant survives on water – so keep watering your plant every alternate day. Check the soil moisturizer to understand the duration between watering the plants. Water is also needed to dilute the fertilizer applied and make the nutrients reach the roots. But remember, keep watering at a limit.
E – Enjoy
Now that you have followed the steps properly, you can expect a steady increase in the number of flowers your plant produces. Make sure you keep inspecting the health of your plants, check for any pests, and apply the necessary pesticides.
Conclusion:
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article on ‘how to trim rose bushes’. If there is any particular section you find the needs to be explained more, please take some time to let us know. Thank you in advance.
Read also: 10 Amazing Quotes About Roses