PRUNING ROSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1855, 10 June 1887, Page 8

PRUNING ROSES.

Tea and noisette roses should not as a rule be pruned before the end of September or the beginning of October. Whether they are grown against walls or trellises, or in the open grounds as standards or dwarfs, the system of pruning is the same, and is founded on their peculiar habit of growth. They are much more liable to wear out by becoming crowded with weak twiggy shoots than any other class of rose, and the system of shortening every shoot more or less must be reversed in the treatment of these. The plants must be renewed annually by fresh growth from the base, and from the first pruning after they are planted this consideration should be kept strictly in view. Take one newly-planted as an illustration ; if it has only one shoot starting from "the base, branching, it, may be, into several laterals towards the extremity, let it be cut down to within 6in or 9in of the ground. This looks like waste, as it may be inferred that the plant would yield a larger number of flowers the first season if not cut down. It may be granted that it would do so, but the chances are that it would be in a worse position to give a good crop of bloom the second year than it will after being cut over in the way recommended. The great object at the first pruning is to secure a branching base to the plant within a few inches of the ground, or, if it happens to be a standard, as close to the union with the stock as possible. In plants with several shoots arising from the base it is necessary

to cut all over in the way described, as. one or two cut back will secure the 7 object;* in view. The shoots that are' not cut back' hard will only want the 'weak points cut away. -At the second season's "pruning the same principle mustbe' kept in new — tnat is, to secure a succession of young branches from the base. This can only bY done by cutting back annually those shoots that are most promisingly situated to maintain a good balance of the' plant on all sides. Along with this it will be necessary to cut out the older wood more or less, so as to keep the plant free and open. ' Such is the rationale of pruning tea" and noisette 1 roses,- and the same .treatment is'required by the Austrian briars, such as Harrisonii and Persian yellow, and in, a modified degree also by the beautiful but shy blooming Cloth of Gold. The less the knife' is used on this latter sort the more r freely' will it bloom. • It blooms most freely from one or two-year-old shoots, "and the knife should only be applied to thin in moderate degree whenever crowding occurs; but this is Iso1 'so rare an occurrence that there is little of its use required. Attention should be given to keeping up a supply of young wood near the base to clothe the 1 lower part of the ■ plants, which is apt' to become bare.' The cutting hard back of any shoot that springs from the base or near it will secure this object.

Banksian roses are regarded by many as shy-blooming roses, a reputation that is founded on a misconception of 'their requirements in the matter of pruning. For the first three or four years after they are planted they usually flower very sparingly, their excessive vigour tending almost wholly to the production of shoots. But if the knife is merely used during this period of exuberance to regulate and prevent the growth from becoming overcrowded, a gradual lessening of vigour will eventually lead to a corresponding profusion of flower. The common error in pruning Banksian roses lies in the time it is done. It is too commonly the case that they are pruned in winter or in spring before flowering, or in autumn when growth has ceased. In either case the flowering shoots are cut away to a greater or less extent, the result being that there is ' little or no flower, and the plant is consequently pronounced a shy bloomer. The fact, however, is that it is, when rightly treated, the most profuse of all roses. The pruning should be done immediately after the flowering season is over. The process consists in cutting out the shoots that have flowered as far as is necessary to prevent overcrowding, and the yearling shoots which have not flowered should be retained to'supply next season's bloom. Strong gross shoots', which this rose is very apt to produce, should, if not very numerous, be cut back a third or a fourth of their length ; if numerous, a proportion of them should be cut over 'by the base. The best kind of shoots to retain for next year's blooming are the shortest jointed, and the best matured and firmest.