Roses

I have some hybrid tea rose I bought at the local supermarket a few years ago and put them in my backyard which doesn’t get much sunlight. I haven’t maintained them at all and they haven’t grown very well as a result. Last year, I built a trellis/bird shrine to protect the roses. This helped in the winter as they were less trampled by the dogs, and generally as a support for the rose branches. This spring I decided to prune what i could from the roses. First I bought a good quality pruner shear, put on some leather work gloves to protect my hands from thorns and set to it. Emboldened by the knowledge that roses are hardy plants, I cut off all the dead wood first using diagonal cuts, cutting until the cane was white inside. Pruning should be done at a forty-five degree diagonal to the cane. On the branches with buds, I cut just after the bud diagonally. I was being fairly conservative, but did manage to trim all the canes, so hopefully this will promote new growth. When trimming, white glue can be used to seal the cuts buy dipping the end in glue, I didn’t do this but it helps make the plant less susceptible to insects and disease.