Rose Blasphemy?

In the next couple months hundreds of thousands of roses will be sold and transplanted into San Diego gardens. After all, what would a garden be without a rose? Thus begins a love affair and the start of infinite frustration. What is that bug? Why are the leaves curling? Is that mildew? What is rust? How come my neighbor’s roses look better than mine? And the biggy: how do I prune the thing and when should I tackle the chore? On this particular question there is new research which will make many of us happy, no, make that thrilled!

The Royal National Rose Society in England has finished some interesting research which suggests all that chopping so many of us attempt each January (much earlier in colder climes) may be doing more damage than good.

The Royal Society grew side-by-side blocks of roses which were treated three different ways. One set of roses were pruned in a typical manner.  Which is to thin old wood, open the plants center for increased air and light penetration, and dead wood and crossing branches were removed. The plants were shortened to 18-24”. In another block, gardeners used power hedge trimmers to minimally shear the rose tops and sides. The third group was left to grow without pruning.

The study was designed to accomplish the goals we seek when pruning our roses.:

1. Encouraging larger and more perfect blooms
2. To increase the quantity of blooms
3. To prevent disease from establishing on the plants

The block of plants which performed the best was those which remained un-pruned, followed closely by the roses which were sheared but not shortened substantially.

The un-pruned roses developed much deeper roots which required less water as well.

So this year, the roses on the 10News Ranch will be left to grow on, although some are encroaching on a garden path and I need to cut them back a little or I risk hurting anyone who walks the path.

Most rose growers also operate under the belief that since roses are heavy feeders they must be fertilized with quick release chemical fertilizers often. No so.

Chemical fertilizers feed the plant and deplete the soil, so just like a junky, they need more and more. Truth is that if we feed the soil, the soil will feed our roses. Twice a year a good top dressing of compost is all your roses need to produce healthy foliage and beautiful blooms.

As a side note, the rose family also contains some of our favorite fruit trees which are also typically pruned each winter including apples, pears, plums, cherries, almonds, peaches, and apricots. The same theory holds that severely pruning these fruit trees may be a whole lot of work for nothing. I have some of each (except cherries) and this year they are not being pruned, except to slightly improve shape. I’ll let you know how it turns out. So the only things that need pruning this year are the grapes, figs, and some citrus. Wow, I’m going to paddle my kayak and watch the playoffs and…

This is so cool!

So what do you think? Will you still prune? Share your rose stories with us, or tell me why you think all this is crazy.

Thanks for tuning in, logging on and speaking up.

By the way…

When you give someone roses, the color can have a meaning. The meaning of rose colors:

• Red = Love and respect
• Deep pink = Gratitude, appreciation
• Light pink = Admiration, sympathy
• White = Reverence, humility
• Yellow = Joy, gladness
• Orange = Enthusiasm, desire
• Red & yellow blend = Gaiety, joviality
• Pale blended tones = Sociability, friendship