Quietness Pruning

13 years ago

I have two young Quietness roses that I have transplanted to improved locations in my flower beds, but I have planted them in areas where they will need to be maintained at no larger than approximately 4 feet wide. I normally do very light pruning on my roses since the majority of them are teas, chinas, noisettes and hybrid musks that generally don't take kindly to heaving pruning. I am under the impression that Buck roses have been bred for colder climates and I assume that means that they are good candidates for pruning relatively hard each spring. Is this assumption correct?
Thanks,
Molly

Featured Answer

michaelg

13 years ago

Mine wants to be at least 5' wide, but I think, given its relatively upright habit, you may be able to keep it in a 4' space. Prune the outer canes to an inward- or upward-facing bud eye less than 2' from the center of the plant. Mine doesn't mind being pruned to 3' high and wide in spring. Then take a foot or two of stem when deadheading.

The best policy is always to allow ample room, but those of us with small gardens are always tempted to pack an extra rose in. Better a slightly crowded 'Quietness' than no 'Quietness' at all. I'm so grateful to Pat Henry of RU for rescuing this great rose from obscurity.

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Comments (6)

Terry Crawford
13 years ago
Molly, I prune 'Quietness' to shape as with any shrub rose here in Zone 5. Each Buck rose has different winter cane hardiness properties; some die back to the ground, while some are hardier. 'Quietness' is one that has proven to be hardier, requiring minimal Spring pruning but a more vigorous Summer pruning to shape up the bush. 'Quietness' has proven to be a very healthy, reliable, and fragrant bloomer...a beautiful rose.
seil zone 6b MI
13 years ago
Mine also hasn't required much spring pruning. It's usually pretty hardy to the tips for me. I have cut it back for size though. It doesn't seem to bother it much. It just grows back bigger, lol!
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jardineratx
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks to you both for the information. I'm afraid I was not clear on my question, however. I am in southeast Texas and have very mild winters, so cold-hardiness is never a problem for my roses. My concern is that I may have to prune Quietness down quite a bit to keep it in the space allotted to it and since gardeners with harsh winters are forced to cut their roses down pretty hard, I wonder if that treatment of Quietness would work for me here in the South.
Thanks again,

Molly
Terry Crawford
13 years ago
The only problem I foresee is that if you have to continually prune 'Quietness' to keep it in a space that is way too small for of a shrub of that size is that you will sacrifice bloom. It takes about 6 weeks after severe pruning for shrubs to rebloom. 'Quietness' has about 3 or 4 good flushes per season here. Pruning to shape a shrub is necessary, but continually pruning to fit a shrub into a small, cramped space that it was never meant to grow in is not a good fit for a big rose shrub. I've planted many a rose and learned that lesson the hard way and had to dig and replant...and the rose was much happier. Just my thoughts...Seil, what do you think?
jardineratx
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, I am so glad to hear that Quietness will not sulk when pruned. I really didn't want to move the two bushes, but the deer munching on them was absolutely constant. It appears that they were in their path, or they are particularly tasty to the deer, so I found a couple of spots for them to go to. The first one to be transplanted (to a deer-free zone) is already fully foliated and has several bloom buds on it. I agree a crowded Quietness is much better than no Quietness at all. In both locations they can grow as tall as they wish, but I will prune them occasionally to keep them in their more narrow space.
Molly