Late Planted Roses

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23145, 17 September 1938, Page 10 (Supplement)

Late Planted Roses

While it is always a good plan to delay the pruning of established roses as long as possible, it is a different matter with those planted at this season of the year. Their roots are not active in providing nourishment for the stems. If the branches are allowed to remain, drying winds may shrivel theni, and they will in any case, sap the vitality of the plant before it is in a position to nourish itself. Therefore, prune, and prune hard at the time of planting from August onward. Bear in mind that a newly planted rose requires a considerable length of time to make sufficient contact with the soil, enabling it to draw adequate supplies of nourishment, and the less top growth the roots have to support at the outset, the finer will be the growth later on in the summer. There is no advantage in leaving long branches, except in the case of large flowered climbers, particularly those that originated as sports from bush roses. The polyantha and Wichuriana ramblers, should, however, be cut down to within a few inches of the ground in order to induce production of a few long shoots. This will mean that there will be no flowers on these ramblers during the coming summer, but the foundation of a good plant will be laid, and next year there should be a gorgeous display.