By Willan14
I have 18 Hybrid tea roses that flower so profusely throughout the summer its almost embarrassing. The problem is that the bushes grow to over 5 feet high and the weight of the huge flower heads (especially full of rain water) sometimes break off the stems. I prune in the autumn to the 1st or 2nd strongest shoot on the main stem. Am I doing something wrong?
11 Feb, 2015
Answers
I'd prune them in March. They sound fantastic!
11 Feb, 2015
As Bamboo says, 1st or 2nd shoot up from the ground or down from the top? Hybrid Teas need cutting down hard to a bud about 6inches up from the ground - depending on where you are, you should be pruning late-feb to mid-March (in the UK)
That will keep them at a shrub height. Sorry can't advise on how to get fewer roses - that's not often a complaint! What about cutting some for the house?
11 Feb, 2015
First or second from the top of the stem, or from the bottom? Do you feed them, and if so, what with and how often? Are they all the same variety, or mixed?
11 Feb, 2015