Search: Pruning roses

With cold weather approaching, several people have dropped by searching for information on pruning knockout and double knockout roses. Many of them end up at my post "Double Knockout Roses Kick Lantanas' Butt", which does not have specific information on when and how to prune knockout and other roses.


The good people at the nursery where I purchased my plants indicated that they handle pruning (and just about everything else) very well.

With any rose, it is a good idea to cut off any diseased or dead canes. It is also a good idea to make sure no canes are rubbing against one another. This light cutting can be done any time of year.

If you feel like dead heading (not required for knockout roses to perform), they way my mother taught me was to cut the stem above the first set of five leaves, at a 45 degree angle, with the lower edge of the cut on the same side as the leaves. When I lived in coastal California, this was most of what I did with my roses. Heavy pruning never really entered into the picture because of the mildness of the climate.

Around here, the traditional time for yearly rose pruning is around mid-February, usually on or near Valentine's Day. This way, any new growth isn't as likely to be zapped by excessive cold. For colder regions, this might vary. In general, it is my understanding that roses do not need to be pruned in preparation for winter, unless this will help you shelter them more effectively.

I have heard that heavy pruning of knockouts or any other shrub rose for the first two years after they have been planted is generally not recommended. This gives your shrub rose time to mature. Mine are still new and very short, so I don't think I'll be doing much in the pruning department this year.

As far as how to go about it, that's up to you. Some people just take an electric hedge trimmer and prune their roses into shapes. I have seen some used as box hedges around town. Since I personally prefer my roses to be in a more natural shape, I will not be doing that.

This page suggests pruning knockouts in the same way as other shrub roses. For spring pruning of most roses, the Houston Garden Book also recommends thinning the small branches out until there are three to five hardy main stems left. It also suggests using directional pruning techniques to encourage a vase-like growth habit. This means cutting canes down just above a bud that is pointing in the direction in which you want the stem of the plant to grow. For more on what that is, and for step-by-step spring pruning directions click here.

For those interested in pruning your knockouts back for the winter, here is a short article on winterizing roses in Southern climates.

I like to use shears like this when I cut my roses:

Photo Source

Shears such as those shown above are easy to get at most hardware stores.

I also recommend wearing some good sturdy gardening gloves to protect your hands and arms from thorns. I have a long pair, specifically made for handling roses and other thorny plants. They have thick leather palms, and they go up to my elbows. I have even used these while handling bougainvilleas, which have thorns up to an inch long, and also while playing with a visiting cat who dropped by while I was planting my roses, and they have protected me well against thorns, claws and teeth. :) I could not find any at the larger home and garden centers where I live (Lowe's, Home Depot). I ended up going to a local nursery.


Here is a post with links to more information on winterizing your roses.

Read my other posts on Double Knockout roses.

Search: Pruning Jasmine

Someone was looking for info on pruning jasmine, so I'll offer my two cents, for what they're worth.

The star jasmine I have growing in my garden has a tendency to twine itself around my trees, if left alone long enough (about 2-3 weeks) during its summer and fall growing season. The pruning process usually involves 3 basic steps:

1. Get hedge clippers
2. Chop off what I don't want.
3. Dispose of clippings.

Given our generally warm climate, whatever I cut off grows back fairly quickly. This vine is evergreen thorughout the winter, so in my region it requires no winter pruning. In fact, the above process I have described and an occasional treatment for powdery mildew is pretty much the only work I put into this plant at all. I mostly ignore it the rest of the time, except in spring when I admire the beauty of its flowers.

Double Knockout Roses kick Lantanas' butt!

So when we moved into our home, there was a lot of landscaping already in place, most of which appeared to have been there since the house was built.

This included a little patch of rambling dwarf lantanas.

I eventually discovered that these things die back in the winter to the point of extreme ugliness. They would need to be pruned back almost to the ground in the spring.

Oh, yes, and they give me a rash when they touch my forearms.

So I started looking for something to replace them. Something with pretty dark green foliage that would keep its looks in wintertime.

Something with a long blooming season, and a profusion bright, red flowers

Something that could handle soil that stays wet for along time after it rains, but wouldn't shrivel up if things got a bit dry.

Something that wouldn't catch some nasty plant disease and die while I wasn't looking.

I finally settled on some Double Knockout roses. They are not antiques, but they are bred to be tough, even in lousy clay soils, and since I can't raise this existing bed to a height that would be good for an antique rose, Double Knockouts seem to be the best option in the rose department. They are supposed to be resistant to blackspot (unlike the Martha Gonzales roses I previously considered for this same location), and also tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and soil conditions. Being more compact than their sister, the original Knockout rose, these were appropriate for the limited space I have in this particular bed.

They will require significant pruning eventually, to keep them down to the size I want, but from what I have read, and from what I am told, they can handle that, too.

Oh yes, and did I mention that they are suitable for places as cold as USDA zone 4? That means they can survive temperatures down to -30 degrees Farenheit! (Though they need protection below 20 degrees, according to Floridata).

And the flowers are beautiful.

Those lantanas are toast.


Related:
An online fact sheet from the company that breeds these roses. Includes information on growth habits, height, width, water and soil requirements, blooming, hardiness zones, and so on. They have a downloadable fact sheet available as well.


Didn't find what you needed? Try my other posts on Double Knockout roses, or use the search box in my sidebar.

Verbena? (or Not...)

Apparently this plant can cause contact dermatitis in people with sensitive skin.

At first, I had this confused with verbena, but commenters quickly corrected me there. :)



In any case, the rough edges of those leaves can create skin irritation. I found this out while reaching through a this plant to remove a rather difficult weed. Then I looked it up on the internet, and found out that both lantana and verbena are indeed known to cause skin irritation in some people.

Here's a lovely shot of my arm.

The picture is a little blurry, so the irritation does not show up very well, but I was starting to get a really nice rash all over the inside of my forearm from reaching through the plant to get at a very obnoxious weed. It itched like crazy, but most of it went away in a few hours (it helped that I washed the area after the irritation began), and it is nearly all gone now, just over 24 hours later. And the discomfort was nothing like what I had later the same day, when my big toe had a run in with some angry fire ants.

I am now searching for alternative low-growing shrubby ground cover type things to replace it. Preferably something that doesn't need heavy pruning every winter. More on that as I learn what might work, and what won't.

Hmm.


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Update: Dermatitis from this plant can last longer than 24 hours, despite oral antihistamines and repeated applications of hydrocortisone cream. The rash is still there. I touched the plant on Monday. It is now Thursday. Grrr. Sleeves are highly recommended.

Hibiscus!

Many varieties of hibiscus grow all over the Texas Gulf region, as well as in Southern California. In fact, the Houston Garden Book has an entire chapter on the origins, propagation, and care of these Chinese natives.

Our winters around here are cold enough that these will often need some heavy pruning after they die back from the winter chill, but they are worth having around just for the spectacular flowers.

Here are three examples (once again from my Grandfather's garden):

Black Beauty (Tentative identification.)


Fiesta


Ross Estey is probably my favorite out of the three. Its petals almost shimmer in the sunlight, and the strips of yellow on the back (pictured below) give this flower interest from every angle.

Wax Ligustrum aka. "Privet"

Photo Source: Magnolia Nursery. Click here for more photos.

This stuff is a staple in landscapes around here. It is in my garden, and I see it planted around many other homes as well. It also makes frequent appearances in municipal gardens in the greater Houston area, and I have also seen it growing quite happily in residential areas around coastal Southern California.

It is easy to understand why these are so common. They are both versitile and hardy. I haven't ever watered mine, but they are doing quite well. Other than the occasional light pruning to keep the hedge shape I want, I pretty much leave them alone. They can be grown in their natural shape, used as tall or medium hedges, and even trained into tree form. Be aware, however, if you try that last option, that you may find yourself trimming little branches off of the bottom to maintain the tree look as long as you have the plant.

In the early spring, you'll see very pretty displays of white flowers like these displayed at Dave's Garden. Blooming happens a little later in milder climates (such as in Southern California). While they may be blooming in California in June, here in Texas, they one can easily observe small berries forming, as the blooming season will have already passed. They are evergreen, so they work well anyplace you want something that keeps its leaves all year.

This plant does have one downside, however. The National Park Service considers this species to be invasive of natural areas in many Southern states, including Texas. Other species of Ligustrum are also listed.