LJWorld.com

By far the most common question posed to me pertains to pruning roses, so I thought I'd try to unmask the myth behind this important garden task. In general roses are really quite easy to grow and they respond wonderfully if they are given proper care in the form of water, fertilizer, pest control and pruning.

March is the time to dust off the pruning shears and get to work on your roses before spring growth resumes. Pruning accomplishes four main goals: to remove dead twigs and branches; to remove weak, damaged and useless branches; to open the plant up to improve air circulation; and to create an attractive shape. And, as a bonus, pruning usually creates either more blooms or healthier, more robust blooms.

You'll want to wear long sleeves and a thick pair of gardening gloves. It's also a good idea to sanitize your shears with 1 part bleach to 4 parts water. If the rose has any diseases, this will keep them from spreading to other plants in the yard.

Most gardeners prefer to use bypass or scissor shears for rose pruning rather than anvil shears, which won't make as clean a cut.

Mary Jo Elston, a rose enthusiast and sales clerk at Howard Pine's Garden Center and Greenhouse, 1320 N. Third St., has her North Lawrence yard brimming over with roses. She estimates she has anywhere from 50 to 55 rose plants growing in her garden.

Her advice for beginners is not to underestimate the hardiness of roses.

"People don't prune aggressively enough on their roses," she says. "Roses look delicate, but they really aren't that delicate at all."

Mary Jo Elston has about 50 rose plants in her North Lawrence yard. When spring rolls around, she prunes the plants, which makes them produce more blooms that are often healthier and more robust. March is the time to dust off the pruning shears and get to work on your roses before spring growth resumes.

Elston says a few simple pruning rules can lead to a healthier, happier rose garden.

"First knock off the winter kill, which is all the black stems that have developed," she explains. "While trimming these black tips, try to keep the canes at the same length. You may have to get drastic with the shears in accomplishing this goal."

Always cut at a 45-degree angle, about a quarter of an inch above an outward-facing bud and/or group of five leaves. Then dab a bit of white glue on the cut to seal it. This prevents diseases from entering the open wound. Cutting above an outward-facing bud forces the growth of the rose up and away from the center of the plant, which will improve the plant's air circulation and reduce pests.

This time of year, bud swells should be easy to spot. When pruning, make sure to cut back to the white tissue. When you view the severed cane, it should show white tissue throughout with no hollow spots.

Prune dead branches by cutting to the base. You may even have to use a saw to accomplish this. The best blooms come from new growth, so old, gray and dry canes near the end of production need to be cut flush with the bud union.

Mary Jo Elston prunes a rose stem at a 45-degree angle in her North Lawrence yard. She has about 50 rose plants.

Cut off any suckers that have developed. Suckers are vigorous canes which grow from the rootstock below the graft union. Oftentimes, a gardener will have to dig a little into the soil to find the sucker's origin and cut it off there.

Ideally, new canes should be growing up and slightly outward in a vase shape, and the center of the plant should be airy and open to encourage good air circulation. Dead leaves, fallen blooms and any other debris should be removed from the base of the plant; they harbor insect eggs and fungal spores.

After pruning has been accomplished, Elston has this advice:

"Don't over water your roses," she says. " Roses like it hot and dry. They prefer to be planted somewhere that will afford them at least six hours of sun a day. Also, plant them about 3 feet apart and fertilize once every six weeks or so with a blooming booster."

Sources: ottoandsons-nursery.com, doityourself.com and Garden Gate magazine