The suppression of wildlings

Nowadays, most commercialized roses are obtained by grafting. However, on grafted subjects, nature sometimes tends to take over... Wildflowers can then appear at the base of the plant and it will be necessary to remove them.

What is a savage?

A wild rose is a rejection that can appear under the grafting point at the base of the plant. Wildings are regrowths of the rootstock from the collar of the rose or from the roots.

In the case of stem roses or weeping roses whose grafting point is located much higher on the trunk, the wild rose may appear directly on the main stem but always under the grafting point.

Be careful not to confuse wildings with "gourmands", the latter always appearing above the grafting point unlike the former which are always located below the grafting point.

Why does the rosebush emit wildings?

The majority of roses currently on the market are grafted from a variety chosen for its specific characteristics: beauty of the flower, perfume, color. This variety is then grafted onto a very vigorous rootstock in order to resist diseases, to support all kinds of soil and to tolerate various climatic conditions.

The rosebush thus obtained will combine the qualities of these two plants, but over time, it may prove to be unstable and the rootstock may take over.

Why eliminate wildings?

It is necessary to remove these shoots because if this is not done, the rootstock could take over, shamelessly suffocating the grafted variety. Your rosebush would then lose the characteristics that seduced you at the time of its acquisition and would be transformed into a wilder shrub, with an indeterminate habit and a flowering absolutely different from the one you had chosen.

How to eliminate wildflowers?

Take gloves and sharp, disinfected pruning shears.

First of all, clear the base of the foot at the level of the wild boar and cut this new growth as close as possible to its departure at the level of the roots. During this operation, as when planting a new subject, be careful not to injure the roots, which will be even more likely to form new shoots later on.

In the case of stem roses or weeping roses, remove all the lateral branches located under the grafting point flush with the main stem.

Pruning rose flowers

In full bloom in spring, roses offer an extraordinary show in the garden. Then the flowers fade one by one, and it is time to prune them. Why prune? How to do it the right way? Follow the guide...

Why is it necessary to prune faded roses?

A rose, when it fades, will turn into a fruit and produce seeds like most other plants, in order to ensure its reproduction. This stage will require a lot of energy from the rose, which, busy producing these famous seeds, will flower less. By pruning, the rosebush will regain its vigor and form new shoots that will soon bear beautiful roses, thus prolonging the blooming period for your greater pleasure.

You should also know that non-remontant roses bloom on the previous year's wood, so a well-practiced pruning will encourage the birth of new branches bearing flowers.

The other reason is more aesthetic: it is always a shame to see faded flowers that detract from the overall beauty of the shrub.

How to prune rose flowers?

Pruning is a much more important operation than one might think. It is very technical and requires a few precautions to be taken:

• always choose a well-sharpened and disinfected pruning shears;
• always choose sharp and disinfected pruning shears; always wear gloves, as we often forget that roses can not only injure but also transmit tetanus!
• Preferably proceed in the morning on a dry day, to give the wound time to dry before the night's humidity.

The cut will be made according to the length of the branch: the longer it is, the more important the pruning will be. To keep a harmonious and bushy shape to the roses, it is always preferable to prune low enough, contrary to the pruning practiced by the amateur gardener, who, believing he is doing the right thing, cuts just under the receptacle (bulging part located under the petals and joining the stem). Thus pruned, the stem will have very little chance to branch out and produce new shoots.

You will therefore have to proceed in the following way: you will notice by carefully observing the stem that directly under the faded flower, there is a leaf bearing three leaflets, further below it you will find a leaf bearing 5 leaflets.

Look at the axil of this leaf and you will see a dormant eye close to the stem. Cut at a bevel above this eye so that the upper point of the cut is half a centimeter above the eye. This way you will avoid rainwater running directly on the bud. A new stem will soon appear bearing one or more flowers.

Did you know that?

If you want to flesh out an etiolated subject you can cut lower but still above a leaf with an outward facing eye.

Pruning roses

Most of the roses need to be pruned, a little trick of horyzon.

Bush roses with large flowers, grouped flowers or stem roses

March is the best time to prune your bush roses. You should leave 5 to 7 branches well distributed around the base. Give preference to young shoots and aerate the center of the rosebush by cutting off the oldest ones.

You must then cut these branches at about 15 cm from the ground in a bevel (the bevel oriented so that the water does not flow on the bud) just above an eye which goes towards the outside of the plant (5 mm above). Preferably leave three or five eyes, but if it is misdirected, cut to less. In general, three eyes are cut for young roses or bedding roses (Polyanthas and Floribundas) and five eyes for large flowered varieties (tea hybrids).

Remove weak or dead branches and cut back the others to 3 or 5 eyes. This will rejuvenate your plant. The cut should be clean, angled and about 1 cm away from the bud. The bud should be facing away from the plant.

For large flowered varieties and more vigorous roses, prune to four/five eyes.

In the fall, prune your roses at about 40 cm from the ground. This is simply an aesthetic pruning, to avoid seeing them without foliage all winter long.

Climbing and shrub roses

Also in March, you will cut back the branches by about a quarter of their length, above an outward facing eye. You will remove the dead and unhealthy branches, keeping only the vigorous wood. You can also remove older branches that are replaced by new growth.

For non-climbing roses, you should prune after they have flowered, in the fall.

Ground Cover Roses

Prune your ground cover roses according to the space available.

Miniature roses

Cut back miniature roses by one fifth and give them an elegant silhouette. Remove the small stems.

Pruning rose bushes in spring

Why prune evergreen roses in spring?

For traditional remontant rosebushes, maintenance pruning should be carried out throughout the season, as well as a clean-up pruning in the autumn, which consists of cutting back all the branches to half height.

But at the beginning of the following spring, during the month of March, or even at the end of February, given that the rose is a plant that does not fear the cold, it is necessary to proceed with a rejuvenation pruning, which allows the rosebushes to remain dynamic and to produce a maximum of flowers. In fact, if you want to obtain new sap conduits that are well distributed throughout the plant, it is necessary to prune the old wood.

The right calculation before pruning

The first step in spring pruning is to count the number of branches on the rose. This number determines the number of eyes* (and therefore branches) to keep.

During a classic pruning, if we count 10 branches (2 small ones can count as one), we must keep 10 eyes on the rosebush. With the pruning technique, we keep 20. The calculation is the following : number of branches emitted in the year x 2 = number of eyes to keep on the rosebush.

Knowing that the first 12 centimeters of a branch carries 3 to 4 eyes, if we leave 5 branches cut back to 12 centimeters, we keep the 20 eyes desired.

Pruning the branches

To leave only 5 branches on the rosebush, we will first remove the branches located in the center, as close as possible to the base. Then, we cut back the preserved branches above the 4th eye.

Avoiding flowering holes

To avoid flowering holes during the season, it will be necessary to intervene again, but only after the roses have grown back. When the new branches reach 20 to 30 cm, 2 branches are selected and pruned to 3 eyes. Thus, when the rosebush is in bloom, these two branches will have produced 6 new branches which will, in turn, be filled with flower buds.

If we repeat this pruning on 10% of the branches, every 10 days, even if it means sacrificing a few flowering branches, we obtain a rosebush bearing roses permanently.

Pruning roses in autumn

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.

Cutting roses

You would so much like to have that beautiful rose that illuminates your neighbor's garden, but you can't find it in the shops! You have been offered particularly beautiful roses and you would like to keep a trace of them... No problem, cutting the stems is quite easy to succeed in autumn. 

However, you should know that the world of roses is ruthless and that the creators are fighting a real battle. Some roses are now protected by a trademark, and like all works of art, their reproduction is theoretically forbidden. However, as long as the production remains in the private and individual domain, it remains tolerated...

The choice of the future cutting

The stem of your chosen rose must be of the year. Vigorous, free of any trace of disease, choose it straight, with an arch or semi-arch. On a 25 cm long shoot, make a bevel cut under the lowest leaf and do the same at 0.5 cm above the top leaf. Take care not to cut a bud and then gently remove the thorns and all the leaves except the two top leaves to limit evaporation which would weaken the plant.

Cutting

You have two options: take cuttings from the rosebush in the garden if you have one, or in pots or deep polystyrene boxes from your fishmonger.

In the first case, choose a shady and sheltered spot in the garden if possible along a wall.

• Dig a V-shaped trench in which you will put coarse sand in order to favour the recovery. 
• After applying a cutting hormone to the lower part of the rose stem, place the cuttings every 15 cm, leaving only the last two pairs of leaves and a 2cm piece of stem to protrude so that the leaves are not in contact with the soil. 
• Fill in with light soil, then pack and water.

If all goes well you can transplant your cuttings within a year. 

In a pot or box, the mixture will be composed of light soil and sand. Dip the rose stems in the cutting hormone and plant them deep enough. You can install several stems per pot. Keep the soil always fresh but not too much at the risk of making the process fail.

Be careful, in pot you will have to transplant your cuttings as soon as the roots come out of the drainage hole to ensure a good recovery.

As soon as spring comes, you can put them in the ground, making sure to water them copiously the first year.