It’s time for a new (rose) style!

For those of you who don’t know, I have been a hairdresser for almost 35 years (...yes, I started VERY young). With the clientele I still maintain, spring is the time of year my customers want "a little more off the top". It's the time of year temperatures change and HUMIDITY can alter the decision of a new spring 'do. It’s kind of the same with my roses! 

Here at CPC, and for you and your customers, spring is the best time for cleaning up, shearing up, and shaping up your roses. After the snow is gone but before new leaves start to pop, it's the perfect time to give these beauties a bit of attention for top performance. While we are all looking forward to color and growth in our landscape, nothing holds court like a well-maintained rose bush.

Just as I cut off fried hair and split ends while styling my clients, when cleaning up roses I begin by removing last year's old leaves from on and around the plants. This reduces pests or disease carried over from last season. You'll want to cut back dead wood, broken or crossing branches, and anything smaller than a straw. It might seem like giving a pixie cut when you're going for long layers, but clearing out all this extra branching allows for better airflow - and airflow is key for keeping rose foliage healthy.  When trimming the remaining branches, cutting above outward facing buds directs the growth upward and outward for a more optimal vase-shaped form.

Knock Out® roses are considered a shrub rose and self-cleaning. However, they still benefit from a nice cleanup in the spring, especially after they've had a few years in the ground. I like to take them down to about 12-18". They are such vigorous growers that, if you don't show them who's boss, you'll find yourself with a plant much larger than you intended.

Climbing roses are a little different. They have main, upright branches and lateral ones. The main branches should be left alone as much as possible. If cut, the plant will focus it’s energy on recovering height before pushing out lateral growth, which is where you'll get flowers. When pruning lateral branching there is no worry where to cut around the buds, anywhere will encourage a push of new growth and those desirable flowers.

So have no fear when considering your spring maintenance program. Sharpen those tools and get pruning! Oh, and don't forget your gloves.