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Explore DiscussionsFeatured Home DiscussionsFeatured Garden Discussions
Antique RosesRoses
katyajini

Pruning ailing Darlow's Enigma

6 years ago

Sorry these plants are really mangy and scrawny!


They are growing along a long stretch of land below our front retaining wall.


They have been neglected completely for over ten years, never watered, fed, weeded, mulched..But unlike what most roses would have done by this time these DE bushes lived! They do look bad though. Last year I took out every weed by the roots, put on some compost and mulched heavily. And took out all dead growth and cut the stems down 3 feet.


My AIM is to grow these into strong compact, not leggy, plants again.


My question is this: there are lots of thin stems and these have already leafed out. I know during a discussion with Malcolm Manners last summer it was mentioned that you can cut this kind of rose down to 2 or 3 feet after every flowering and it will grow back and flower again. This form of pruning is also a way to grow DE in a bushy shrub form rather than large climber. I missed pruning those stems earlier in spring. Should I just let the plants grow, photosynthesize, flower and then cut them down? Or can I still cut off a foot or more of the top now? Which will be better for DE in this situation and help them get stronger? I have heard a rose is always happier with some pruning than no pruning. Is this true?


By the way, I did feed them a good dose of granular organic fertilizer and generic 10-10-10 and sprayed with kelp since the picture.


here is one DE. All of them more or less look like this:





Featured Answer
  • 6 years ago

    Personally, I would continue watering, feeding and working with them so they can feed themselves and develop the massive root system they want to have. Once that support system is in place and functioning, they will start pushing out the strong growth you know they can produce. Once that starts, you can selectively prune out all the thin, twiggy stuff you don't want, prune and train the strong growth and start developing the plant coverage you want. It will happen. Welcome back to being able to play with your roses again. Ten years is a long time to have been otherwise occupied.

    Comments (7)

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