After flowering, comes fruiting
In the fall, the roses in the garden are almost finished flowering. It is possible to leave them as they are. Some will produce fruit that is quite decorative (rose hips) and will also serve as food for birds during the season. However, by producing fruit, the rosebush expends energy that will then be lost when it comes time to bloom again the following year. Therefore, in order not to exhaust your roses and to obtain a beautiful bloom every year, it is recommended to do a minimum of maintenance, that is to say pruning.
Pruning roses with hedge shears
Roses are usually pruned with pruning shears, working on the branches, one after the other. In the case of a rose bed or hedge, where there are many branches to prune, the task can quickly become tedious. To simplify the work, use hedge shears, a tool that is less precise than pruning shears, but with greater efficiency; a tool that is not usually used to prune rose bushes. But for this fall pruning, the lack of precision is not a problem. So we use the hedge shears as we would for a classic hedge.
Why prune roses in the fall?
Pruning roses in autumn with hedge shears simply consists of a light cut to shorten the branches slightly. This makes it possible to remove the end of the flowering period and the fruit in formation. We also take advantage of this to give a nice shape to the roses and limit their expansion (the stems quickly spread on the surrounding lawn, or grow in height depending on the variety).
And then, in spring...
In the spring, more precise work can be done. For example, if there are some dry or badly placed branches. It is then possible to intervene, but this time, with the secateurs.
And if it is necessary to shorten the roses again, most of the work will already have been done.
