By Misstee
Shropshire, United Kingdom
I have two David Austin standard trailing roses and I was wondering when to prune them. I also have some very large standards too. When should these be pruned please is it best to wait till spring. I think the trailing ones have a rambling rose grafted onto it, I don't have the name but they are covered in cerise flowers and usually grow like mad and become too top heavy!
- 25 Oct, 2010
Answers
Thank you for answering, but I am still confused as both the ordinary standard and the weeping one have both produced a second flush of flowers (they both still have flowers on now?) The first flowering is in July and then the standard rose which has individual flower heads, kind of dies down abit and then comes back. The weeping standard has all the flowers disappear and then just produces a few which are in flower now, (The flowers on this are small and clustered like Rambling Rector but in shocking pink and on a standard!) Im sorry if Im not very clear on this! But any advice greatly appreciated!
25 Oct, 2010
First bloom in July seems rather late to me, Misstee, but my climate is undoubtedly far different from yours!
Some of the spring-blooming ramblers will produce a sparse second bloom in late summer/early fall. In this they are a lot like the old Hybrid Perpetuals--most of which weren't very perpetual! They still should have most of their pruning right after bloom. Since you have to prune very hard to keep them in shape and rejuvenated, though, that will reduce the chance of a second bloom.
Modern reblooming roses will bloom several times a year, if they are religiously deadheaded (old blooms taken off), and fed regularly. If you are talking about the David Austin "English Roses", some of them are a little weak in the reblooming department, and may take a while to recover from their first bloom.
Remember that the standards are just a bush rose or a climber grafted onto a heavy climbing rose stem. Outside of special care to preserve symmetry, the tops are pruned pretty much like their bushy or vining brethren. Vigorous, once blooming climbers like you are describing will need heavy pruning--leaving branches only 30-50 cm long--to keep them under control.
Hope this helps a little more!
27 Oct, 2010
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If they tend to bloom only once a year in the spring, prune them heavily right after they bloom, and maybe a light, cosmetic, selective pruning in late summer, just for shape. Modern hybrids, such as Hybrid Teas, or Floribundas bloom on new wood, and so should have a fairly heavy pruning in early spring, maybe late February or early March in Shropshire?
25 Oct, 2010