I've never tried the technique.

I think you may be referring to Mark Whitelaw, who published a series of rose articles online under the title "Just Roses" back in the 1990's. I read his essays with interest, and even have a few of them printed off in some stack or other.

Rosefolly

I don't know if this method works or not, but I have a concern. In areas where bacterial root gall disease is not uncommon, root pruning will increase tha chances of getting rose infected. It is always desirable to have as little as possible root damage, wounds, etc to prevent root gall.
In my area bacterial gall is not a big issue, but I loose at least one rose to it each year. I would myself try this technique here.
Olga

Here it probably would not be viable at all, due to the rose replant disease, as you cannot plant the rose in same place where it grew before (even the same rose). It is a bit mystery of the disease, as there are little reports about it from US, but it may be a concern in certain, especially cooler gardens. Rose replant disease I had experience with in both z4/5 and in z8, so it has quite wide cooler climate range here at least.

It could probably work for plants that are always kept in the pots though.

Thanks everyone for your responses. When I read about that method 10 years ago I was brand new to roses--here it is 10+ years and 25 roses later and I'm still a novice! So I very well may have misinterpreted what I read back then. Didn't realize at the time that in Texas, roses just get huge. I may have been trying to find a way to tame my monster Mutabilis at the time and it sounded like a reasonable solution. Turns out the solution was to replace Mutabilis with a tea olive and stick with the Earthkind roses. Makes rose pruning time more pleasant, thats for sure!

I once read a single comment about root pruning. Someone had posted a question at the Peter Beales' forums because they were having trouble getting a climber to grow (at least three years staying basically the same size) and some suggestions and questions went back and forth. The rose may have been Madame Alfred Carriere, though I'm not sure of that. Anyway, the forum administrator there (who worked at Peter Beales Nursery) mentioned root pruning as a last resort - that once in awhile some root pruning will shake up a too-settled rose into more activity generally. Meaning that if you're trying to encourage new growth at the top, root pruning would stand a chance of accomplishing that. If what you want is the opposite, it doesn't sound as if root pruning would be the way to go.

I can't access the Peter Beales' website now, but if you can get there, the question had an appropriate subject line and was listed within the section where you're asking for a professional's opinion.

Best wishes,
Mary

Cutting of roots reduces overall size increase of top by reducing amount of energy coming from roots. And vice versa. Tops and roots support the growth of each other. So I don't see how cutting the roots attached to a stunted top is going to make it grow faster afterward.

Bonsai are maintained in part by cutting the roots and tops every year.

Top pruning at planting time makes new specimens grow less at first because the roots are affected by the removal of part of the top, delaying establishment. The idea that cutting a plant back makes it grow more is the opposite of what is true, based no doubt on the fast growth of individual sprouts in response to hard pruning - the plant is rushing to replace the lost top growth. But the total volume of new growth of the pruned specimen is less during the period following pruning than if it were not pruned.

Hi BBoy,

What you say makes perfect theoretical sense to me and approximately what I'd think too, if I hadn't happened to have read the professional's post at the Peter Beales website I mentioned earlier. And I might vaguely recall root pruning associated with bonsai; my husband had a couple of bonsais going for awhile. But my impression in reading that Peter Beales' forum posting was that the forum writer wasn't talking in terms of theories. In his post, he didn't explain why what he mentioned should work, only that it might work to encourage growth in a long-planted rose that wasn't growing.

"Pete" is the name of the Peter Beales nursery person I recall doing the posting mentioning root pruning as a possibility to encourage growth in a long-established plant not going anywhere. I'd guess that if your curiosity is terribly piqued now about his rose root pruning ideas, you might try getting an email to him through the Peter Beales website, or via a phone call there, to follow up on this concept and ask what growing experience the poster or his colleagues at the nursery there have actually had with root pruning and why/how they did it (assuming they have actually tried it there or know someone who has). Pete is quite nice and unlikely to resent being asked a rose question.

Best wishes,
Mary

For more information on topics like How Plants Work and Planting Techniques...

Here is a link that might be useful: Horticultural Myths

Yeah....don't prune the roots. Plants need them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings blog

Unless they are deformed by confinement in a container at one or more points in the production sequence, a pandemic problem with nursery stock I encounter here.

Good point bboy....My comment only applies to those plants in situ...and that aren't going to be moved. I absolutely hack at the roots of pot-bound plants...

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings blog