Stop Pruning Your Roses Like This in October, by Pro Gardening on YouTube. 6 min 1 s.
- Video length
- 6 min 1 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Skip heavy cutting in October. Big structural cuts now can trigger soft new growth that winter cold will kill. Save major shaping for late winter or early spring.
Wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol before you start and between bushes. This stops disease spreading from one rose to the next.
Check each bush for rose rosette disease: distorted red growth, excessive thorns and bunched shoots. Dig out and bin any infected plant rather than pruning it.
Pick up fallen leaves and clear debris from around the base. Black spot and other fungi overwinter in dead foliage, so bag it and throw it away, not on the compost.
Deadhead spent flowers only. Snip the stem just above a healthy outward-facing leaf set. Leave the main framework of the bush alone.
Make each cut at a 45-degree angle, sloping away from the bud you want to keep. Cut about a quarter inch above an outward-facing node.
Leave the rose hips on the bush. They feed birds and signal the plant to slow down and harden off for winter.
In cold zones, mound soil or mulch over the graft union, the swollen knob near the base. Pile it about 8 to 12 inches high after the first hard frost.
Plan your heavy prune for late winter or early spring, just as buds start to swell. That is when you cut out old canes and shape the bush.
Tips and common mistakes
Never compost rose leaves or prunings with black spot, since the spores survive and spread back to your beds.
Clean your pruners between bushes, not just at the start, to avoid carrying disease across the garden.
Do not fertilize or hard prune in fall, as both encourage soft growth that frost will damage.
Check your hardiness zone before mounding soil, since mild climates may need little or no winter protection.
Questions
Can I cut my roses back hard in October?
No. Heavy fall pruning can push new growth that winter kills. Do light cleanup and deadheading now and save hard pruning for late winter or early spring.
Should I remove rose hips in autumn?
Leave them. Rose hips feed birds and help the plant slow down and harden for winter.
What does rose rosette disease look like?
Look for distorted red or witches' broom growth, excessive thorns and bunched shoots. There is no cure, so remove and bin the whole plant.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
