Should I prune my roses now?

They flowered into december then it got cold, now it's getting warm again and I'm afraid they might start growing again. Think it's a good idea to prune them now? For that matter someone told me I'm better off waiting till Feb. to prune everything, is that a good idea or should I just prune everything now?

From what I've read, in warmer areas such as yours (and mine) when you prune - fall or early spring - doesn't really matter that much. That said, I've tried both and I prefer to prune in early spring; spring here starts in mid February BTW. If you prune now some of the roses may be prompted to start new growth. Then if it gets cold again for a few days, that tender new growth may die back, and sometimes the newly cut/pruned branches may also die back a bit. That's why I like to wait until mid Feb. On the other hand, if you hold off until Feb to prune, the warmish) weather may prompt some of the roses to put out new growth anyhow, and you'll just end up cutting back that new growth in Feb when you prune. This conundrum coupled with the fact that the roses will be fine either way is the reason why it's largely a toss up. But I would wait until Feb.

My roses usually bloom right up until Christmas. This year they really didn't want to go dormant at all. I just ignore them until mid Feb. regardless. I also find that another benefit of waiting until Feb to prune is that many of my roses produce hips in fall which I now leave on the bushes for the birds and other wildlife to eat during winter.

Pretty much my thoghts. LOL. There is no answer to this question. I have butterfly bushes putting on new growth but I'm not worried about them I just prune them to shape whenever.

Around here from time to time and from year to year I see all kinds of confused plants trying to break dormancy and bloom in 'winter' - usually when it's been 70-80F out for a week or two, everything from azaleas to lilies, daffodils to tulips, and even such spring blooming trees as magnolia, crabapple, and ornamental cherry. I used to worry that this would effect the 'real' spring blooms, but have found that spring always arrives with flowers to spare. Now I just ignore them.

As for the roses, right now I have a handful of fat, pink, but blasted buds on the English roses flanking the front door. What can you do?

Most of my roses actually look pretty good right now and guess when I pruned them? In August! They looked so ratty from the heat and they weren't blooming so I gave them a real buzz cut and when they came out again for the fall (it took about 3 weeks) they looked as pretty as they normally would in early spring. I will do some judicious trimming withing the next few weeks to get the juices flowing but my major pruning will be in the heat of the summer from now on. Definitely weird but it worked for me.

Ardesia I've noticed that with a few plants . I've had butterfly bushes planted for two years which I pruned last feb. by the time July came around they huge but not compact at all. Look more like a gaint weed so I pruned them back pretty hard mid July and that did the trick. They filled right in and bloomed more intensely than they had all year. There was about two weeks that they didn't look to good after I pruned them but after that they were better then ever. My new thing is to prune those twice a year now.

Might do what you did to the roses. I think I've read to much advice from people who live in colder cilmates and they just don't have a long enough growing season to prune more than once.

Ardesia and Core, I think I'll follow suit this year!! My buddleia and my roses all looked pretty worn out mid-summer or so, wish I'd been braver and given them a trim! I'll try that this year.... My roses were blooming thru December, but the bushes didn't look that great. And the buddleia started putting out smaller and smaller blooms, too early.

I did the same thing Alice. I cut mine back in summer 'cause they were taking over the garden path right outside the house and were looking rank, and when we had our Christmas party the second week in December I couldn't figure out what one of my husband's co-workers was doing- he was taking people out into the garden to see the roses! I'd love to say I'd timed it that way, but I hadn't give it a thought. I have an area with a mass planting of knock-out roses and they were looking spectacular then. There is nothing easier then that plant, except possibly a dandelion. ;*>

Jenny

I started pruning mine last week. I have quite a lot and needed to get started. I still have a bunch to do. I think now is a good time at least for us. It was close to 70 degrees yesterday.
I am then going to give them a shot of chicken manure and some time release fertilizer and then I will be done for a while at least. Happy gardening everyone.

Hi gardener413,

I started pruning mine yesterday and am working on them again today. It was almost 80F here yesterday. I broke a sweat. We are supposed to get to 75F today. I'm going to fertilize, add Epsom salt, and am thinking of trying the cornmeal remedy for black spot - supposed to scratch it into the soil under the plants to reduce the incidence of the fungus in the soil.

Where do you get the chicken manure in your area (since that's not far from me)?

scutler!

I am so glad I read this thread! I had never heard of using corn meal to control Black Spot! I will certainly try it. My roses start out so pretty in May, and by July I have Black Spot on every bush! I tried chemical fungicide, it didn't seem to help. Last year I decided I wasn't going to use chemicals in my garden, so I have been trying to "go Organic". I really need a new idea to control Black Spot! This may be the answer to my problem!

Thanks!
Pat

Hi Pat,

You are very welcome! I have the same problem. The humidity is terrible here in summer and so is the blackspot. I was able to keep it barely under control by spraying harsh chemicals every 2 weeks, but I have in excess of 100 roses so that got to be quite a chore.

I've not tried the cornmeal yet myself, but it sounds promising. If you look at the Rose Forum there is a current thread (close to the top) discussing the subject, where it originated (a university but don't recall which), some instructions, etc. The thread should be easy to find. You can also find it via the tag system under 'blackspot'. Good luck! Let me know how it works for you. (I think I read that it gets better over a course of several years or something like that.)

I sprinkle plain old grocery store cornmeal around my roses and it does help but it does not completely eliminate the BS. Baking soda is another one of my remedies that helps a bit also. Anything but the chemicals if I can help it.

adresia,

Do you sprinkle the baking soda on the leaves or around the base of the plants?

It seems like I read about making a solution with dishwashing liquid, but I didn't copy it and now i don't know where I saw it. Have you ever heard of this?

Pat

ardesia,

How long have you been using the cornmeal. Do you know if you are using it in the recommended quantity? I don't actually know what that is BTW, but was planning to do a bit more research. It's disappointing to hear that it doesn't eliminate BS, but if it helps, well, when it comes to BS, I can use all the help that I can get.

Pat,

It sounds like you are talking about the use of baking soda mixed with water which is then sprayed on the plant/leaves. A small amount of dishwashing liquid is added to the solution before spraying mainly to help it stick to the leaves. By some accounts, and I think Clemson did a study of this type, this solution is supposed to be as effective as the heavy duty chemicals in controlling BS.

I've thought about trying the cornmeal on roses. Black Magic from the rose forum. LOL. Never heard of the baking soda spray.

I've even seen the baking soda spray mentioned, with recipe, in some rose books.

I'm willing to practice a little voodoo if it helps.

I wish I could say I use recipes but it is usually a spoonful of this or that around here for this stuff. If there is anything stronger than baking soda or corn meal involved I am a bit of a stiff about always reading labels.

The baking soda is used in a spray with a bit of dish soap that works as both a "spreader sticker" for the solution and it also does in the insects. There are lots of good recipes in the "sticky" on the rose forum.

For the corn meal I just sprinkle it around, no specific amount. I have a lot of BS right now because of the wet, damp weather but I'll pick off the spotty leaves and clean up (most important) under the rose and sprinkle the corn meal. Sometimes I scratch it into the soil, sometimes not. No rocket science here.

Messenger is also supposed to help by increasing plant's natural immunity but I never remember to use it regularly so I can't say if it is that effective for the BS or not.

Not long ago I visited a local garden that was a jungle of greenery. Everything was overgrown and in the midst of some large shrubbery I found several hybrid tea roses. Everything was wrong for these roses, not much sun, no air circulation and they were even over-watered but they were blooming, the leaves were beautiful and healthy and there wasn't a black spot on them. I asked the homeowner what she was using to keep them so healthy and it turns out they had never been sprayed with anything. She told me she used Mills Magic Rose Fertilizer, nothing else on the plants. I am going to try that stuff this year; I believe it is all organic. .

my local nursery was pruning theirs today so i came home and did mine. i always feel so bad cutting half of the off.

cornmeal for black spot may have to try it. fixing to lime the lot of my yard so thats everything. our ground is so iffy on stuff.

and epsom salt the roses . can you do knockout s with it too?

imzadi,

Not sure if I understand. Are you asking if you can put Epsom salt on Knockout roses? If so, yes. Once a year in spring I put Epsom salt on just about everything (on the soil that is) including the lawn. The main ingredient is magnesium which is often depleted in our soil and which promotes health and vigor in plants (and people). However, this is not a 'more is better' situation, so you don't want to pour it on every few weeks as one of my friends did with his tomatoes with less than pleasing results. I believe the recommended rate is around 1/4c per rose. I apply a scant handful under each rose and water in.

It used to pain me to chop off any healthy growth but not anymore, not after seeing how quickly they rebound and what a difference it makes in terms of branching, blooming, and overall appearance.

What scutler said! In my first spring fertilizing (March) of the whole property with 10-10-10 fertilizer, I add 1 lb of epsom salts to every 10 lbs of fertilizer and mix it real well. Have no idea if there is any scientific basis to this practice, but over the years, I've had no problem with BS on my Tea Roses, the lawn keeps getting better (fewer weeds), and the shrubs seem more resistant/able to tolerate insect damage. I've always believed it was because the plants were healthier which allowed them to provide their own insect control, but I'm far from an expert!

Another Epsom Salts lover here.

I am sure the checkers at the grocery store think I must have a "problem" because I buy so much. My soil is deficient in magnesium and this stuff really helps. I use a tablespoon of ES in a gallon of water and use it on my tropical hibiscus and the cycads once a month. Everything else gets a sprinkle spring and fall. You can almost see the green leaves get greener.

I never thought to use it on my itsy bitsy bit of lawn but now I am going to try it.

Glad to see so many of you also use Epsom Salt.

I originally got the idea to use Epsom Salt on roses from a rose book. I have one book that shows pics of (leaf) damage or strange coloring/growth patterns due to various deficiencies; it includes a pic for magnesium deficiency.

BTW, although I have bought mine at the grocery store many times as well, they do also feel it at HD, Lowe's, and other home and garden centers. Recently, I found bags of the stuff at WalMart (garden dept) for a fraction of the grocery store or home center price.

For the lawn I use 2 boxes or bags Epsom salt (I think they are 2lb ea but can't recall for sure, just the regular size carton that you get at the grocery) for each bag of lawn fertilizer ('regular' size bag, can't recall size info). I mix that up and spread it with a regular spreader once a year in spring. I got that info from a book specific to lawn care.

When I 1st bought my house the lawn was all but completely dead, mostly due to grub damage. You could see the ground through the remaining grass. It had bald spots here and there. It was easy to make new planting beds because all I had to do was brush the dead grass aside and start digging. I really expected that I would have to have it re sodded, but decided to try to save it. Even though the lawn was riddled with weeds, I was literally afraid to kill the weeds for fear there would not be anything left in some areas to hold the dirt down.

I treated the lawn for grubs and fed as indicated above. It started to turn around the 1st year, and by the 2nd year the grass was so thick you could no longer see the ground through it anywhere. The bald spots filled in all by themselves as the surrounding grass starting sending out runners to colonize the empty areas. Soon I was getting accolades from people walking by on the sidewalk commenting on how lush the grass was and how they had lived here for a decade or more and the lawn had never looked like this.

For a lawn I would use ironite. Greens a lawn right up.

ES greens things right up but it also seems to give leaves more structure. They both look and feel thicker and healthier. Just my opinion but I think that is why it helps where insects and diseases are concerned.

scutler, sorry to be so tardy in getting back to you. I get my chicken manure from Cross Garden Center. It is called Black Hen. The chicken version of Black Cow. The stuff is great and stinks. But as soon as it is watered in the smell goes away. All in all my roses stay pretty healthy. I do not spray at all and the only thing I do for food is the chicken manure, some time release food and mounds of mulch during the year. I have a lot of roses and have simplified it a lot. I just do not do all the other stuff with the epsom salts, spraying etc. I have almost all antiques, shrub roses and plants like that. I have banished Hybrid Teas from my garden because they are so labor intensive and I feel they really do not like the heat and humidity of our summmers. I do think they are so beautiful but so are some of the other choices without half the problems.

In fact I use the chicken manure on everything I grow. And it seems pretty happy to me. I do have problems with my lawn but I hate it and would happily chunk it up for some nice hardscaping. That is the one thing that I do have problems with but it gets smaller by the year.

Hmmm, I haven't been to Cross in months, I'm going to have to try the chicken manure. What kinds of mulch are you using? After using triple ground bark for the past few years I can no longer stand the stinkhorn mushrooms and think I will go back to pine straw.

Chicken manure, oh my. The dogs would go nuts if I used that stuff. Everything needs to pass the dog test or they'll be digging, rolling, possible eating it.

LOL, I put corn meal out a week or so ago and the dog came in with it all over his face. At least it didn't smell bad.

gardener413,

Thanks very much for the info! I haven't been to my local Cross Seed in a while since I've been doing so much online shopping, but I used to love the place. I must go back and check out that chicken manure.

Thanks again.

ardesia,

Some years back I had a guy put that pretty, red, wood chip mulch around everything in my front and side yards. Soon after that I was trying to figure out what died there - due to the stench of the stinkhorns. As the red mulch decomposed a bit, I covered it in a thick layer of pine straw. That combination, wood substrate buried under a nice mulch to keep it cool, dark, and moist turned out to be a stinkhorn's dream - and a home owner's nightmare. In the areas from which I've found time to remove every bit of that red mulch, I've not seen a recurrence of stinkhorn in years. Now if I could just find time to finish the job. (I've not had a problem with pine straw alone - but would prefer something 'prettier', so am waiting to hear gardener's response.)

I forgot to mention the recommendation is to scratch the cornmeal into the dirt if you think you may have a wildlife (or pet) problem; however, I suspect that if you did that your dog would just come in with a dirty face. Better to stick with the cornmeal face.

I am using fresh triple ground mulch in the beds and single ground in open areas, no dye or anything. It decomposes beautifully and is so good for my pitiful soil but the fungi just love the decaying wood. This afternoon I noticed 2 more big stinkhorns; nothing smells viler.

I've been using the cornmeal for about 5 years and I am way too lazy to scratch it into the ground; I do water it in well however. I figure the dog could (and has) come in with worse things on his face. LOL

About 3 years ago,everyone ( it seemed) on DG was into making alfalfa tea for the roses and everything else.I did it for one season and had good results.However it is pretty smelly to make with all the pails sitting around in the hot sun.Corn meal is much easier and so is ES.

I use ground leaves for mulch very easy since I have lots of live oaks on my property and the guy next door has a lawn mower with a grinding chipping attachment.Saves him money on black bags and I'm very happy.

I also tried collecting sea weed and spreading it on the roses once it was dry.I can't tell you what worked best but I love to try new things.

I buy my mulch by the load from the Lowcountry Mulch guys on highway 41 in Mt.Pleasant.I get a whole trailer load for $21? That is just enough for me to put out in a few hours by myself. Yall should see my soil. It is awesome from the chicken manure and the mulch. I get the ground hardwood mulch and it smells so good and is pretty too. The only bad thing, it does break down within months but that is good too. I hate pine straw with a passion. As for the dogs rolling in the chicken manure, really, once it is watered in no problem.

Hey, I have tulips blooming in my yard today, wow, it is early for them. I have had daffodils and grape hyacinths for a week or so but I was amazed at the early bloom on the tulips.
What is going on in everyones garden this week?

Hey downscale babe, you can go directly to a feed store, (horses, cows) and buy the pelleted alfalfa and spread that around your plants too. It works great, way less tedious than making that tea which takes forever and it time consuming. I'm telling yall, get the chicken manure. It is fabulous.

gardener, don't you get the stinky stinkhorn mushrooms growing in your mulch? The only thing you are doing differently (from me) is using the chicken manure.

gardener, Thanks for the info on the mulch (and the chicken manure).

I gave up on tulips (don't enjoy planting them every year). My daffodils are blooming. First noticed them 2-3 weeks ago. Also blooming: Japanese (tulip) magnolia Jane, camellias (since Nov/Dec), hellebores, flowering quince, yellow Jessamine. I haven't been out there since Sunday, but at that time the yellow Lady Banks rose was covered in buds and about to open. The amaryllis were sending up shoots. The lilies were up, and the Dutch Iris were sending up bloom stalks. I'm sure I'm missing something, but that's what I remember for now. I love spring but wish we could postpone it just a bit because I am so not done with my winter clean up.