Before you do any winter pruning, please read this article!

 

Gregg Lowery of Vintage Gardens in Sebastopol, CA has written a very important article about the scientific evidence that now contradicts traditional procedures for rose pruning.  This article may also have relevance for how we prune fruit trees, since roses are members of the rosaceae family which includes many fruit trees.

 

In short, the British rose society did experimental trials on three methods: traditional pruning, trimming with hedge trimmers and no pruning at all.  The winner in terms of health and bloom was -- you guessed it -- no pruning at all.  The British rosarians were in an uproar!!!  How could it be possible that the plants know better than people how to do their job?

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We may still choose to prune for size, of course -- but we need to know that we're not helping the health of the plant by doing so, and a gentle hand is needed.

 

 

Happy holidays,

Linda