Brad Benson
I’ve been dabbling with roses for about fifteen years now and have read a lot of ‘how-to’ books, but the ever-unpredictable rose is still is just that, unpredictable. So that said, let’s stick to the basics and focus on what we can do to jump-start our roses.
I like to start off the season with what I’ll call a major hair cut just as the weather starts to turn and prior to bud break. Go through all your Tea, Floribunda and Grandifloras and give them a good haircut down to about 24 inches or less. At this time also remove any dead wood, winter-kill, crossing or rubbing branches and any smaller branches growing toward the center of the plant. This should leave you in shock and your glorious rose bush should now be reduced to 3 to 5 of the strongest canes with no other small branches or leaves. Don’t be alarmed as with any bad haircut it will grow back and your rose will love you for it.
This is the most important step of preparing your roses, it’s the clean up, throw it all away, do not pick up any of your cuttings and dispose of them on site or compost on your property - bad, bad, bad - this contains last years black spot, powdery mildew and any other disease or insect that called your garden home. Get it all picked up and get it out.
Great! Now the bad stuff is all gone so lets stop it from coming back. Get out the dormant oil and let’s give a thorough application. The oil is a contact insecticide and will kill all stages of the insects (egg, larvae and adult) such as aphids, thrips, mites and scale by smothering them. The sulfur prevents development of disease-causing fungi such as powdery mildew, rust, black spot, and downy mildew. Dormant oil can be purchased retail and all you have to do is add water and it is relatively safe compared to synthetic pesticides. I like to scratch up the mulch in my rose beds and give the mulch a bit of dormant oil also should anything be lurking beneath.
It’s time to feed when you see those nodes starting to break and at this point I can only speak for myself and tell you what I like to do. I am approaching about 100 rose bushes in my garden and they all get the same thing. I like Rose Tone. It’s organic and has everything a hungry rose could want. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and feed accordingly, scratching it in around the base of each plant. I also give each plant a quarter cup of Epsom salts to promote healthy leaf growth and finally a good dose of fish emulsion sends them on their way to beautiful blooms.
So now what? This depends on you. Are you an organic gardener or do you use non-organic methods. I use both and after my first feeding I treat my roses with a fungicide/insecticide about every 10 to 14 days depending on rainfall until the Roses Show the 3rd Saturday in June, after that about every 3 weeks or spot treat as needed. You can use organic or non-organic products but follow the directions carefully as more is not better and you can actually burn your foliage and stunt the blooms. And never spray in full sun as everything will burn - I like to treat as the sun sets with enough time for the product to dry before it gets dark. Also don’t treat your plants on windy days for of course the obvious reasons - we don’t want to get it on ourselves or non-target plants.
What about my Knockout roses and climbers? Prune your knockouts like any other bush to maintain size and shape to suit your space, don’t forget to remove crossing and rubbing branches as this can allow in insects and disease. Climbers take a different approach as most bloom off last year’s wood. Remove dead wood and shape as needed but prune secondary branches to 3 inches from the main canes - this is where your blooms are coming from. Don’t forget to wear a good pair of gloves. Roses are beautiful but they can sure be a pain.
See you at the Rose Show.