Garden

[lovesallanimals]

I live on the East Coast so it is still very cold here. When do I prune my roses? A lot of them have long branches and did not do too well last year. I want to prune them all to give them a healthy boost but do I prune before the buds start appearing and it is still very cold, especially at night, or do I wait until mid April when there are buds and cut them back anyway? If I cut where there are buds and I loose some of them, will they grow back?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[VaBelle35]

I've lived on the East Coast all my life and grown roses. The rule has always been ""when the forsythia's bloom in your area"" you can prune.

[fthunt]

East Coast here too - I quit roses due to aphids but studied the issue - and followed rule with success...........in the Fall I pruned my bushes down to one foot - 1 1/2 foot high and then cleaned out the soil from fallen leaves and debris - and wished them a good winter. Prefer not to prune in the Spring because we thaw out so late - little buds might be poking up, that you can't see yet, and could do damage to those.

[JustJazzmom]

Two schools of thought from another East Coaster. The time to prune your roses is NOW to remove any winter damaged (blackened or browned canes/stems) and to prune out any dead wood or old thick wood from the centers of roses. Any long stems that were whipping around in the winter should have been cut back in the late fall to prevent this whipping around in the winds. Hybrid teas can be cut back now and so can any of the 'Knock Outs' to about 18-12".

These two varieties can take a hard pruning and will bounce back again.

But if you like your 'Knock Outs' to be at 4' high you can leave them be but just remember these roses bloom at their tips so all the blooms will be at the tops and sides.

Because of our changing weather, you may see more winter damage a few weeks after you have initially pruned, its normal and its okay to trim back to green stems. Do not be shy about pruning-- roses are tough!!

[poshmini]

I prune in the fall, and then tidy (trimming etc.) them up early spring, feed them and mulch them as well. As for aphids, I plant garlic around the roses and it really works.

[jackthebear]

I usually do it when the buds just peak out, here our Forsythia is still in hiding not sure if it actually spring

[lovesallanimals]

Thanks everyone, will prune next week.

poshmini: Wow! I have tons of Aphids, and spray with a ton of all natural products but they just keep coming back. Garlic? who knew! I will definitely give this a try.

[Kachina624]

My rose leafed out overnight or so it seemed. Never got to the pruning. Got warm here very early.

[JustJazzmom]

On 3/31/2015 loveour4leggedfriends said:

Thanks everyone, will prune next week.

poshmini: Wow! I have tons of Aphids, and spray with a ton of all natural products but they just keep coming back. Garlic? who knew! I will definitely give this a try.

If you can find them locally at a nursery-- try ladybugs to get rid of the aphids. Two large nurseries sell them for about $12 a container. If you don't need them right away but see them-- buy them and refrigerate them. The ladybugs go into a semi hibernation in the cold. When you need them (when the aphids are visible) take the container out and let it warm up to room temperature-- keep the container in the shade and mist occasionally with water across the top to keep them hydrated. There is food inside the container for them until you need them.

What I do is grab a small twig and apply a ladybug to each infestation of aphids. This method puts them right at their food source instead of at the bottom of the rose where they then have to climb up or fly to the food source. The ladybugs remove close to all of the aphids on my roses.

Alternate methods -- using insecticidal soap are good, but have to be applied in cooler temps and not in bright sunshine-- you also have to spray underneath the leaves and if it rains, applications can wash off with the rain. Please note that if you are using ladybugs and also use insecticidal soap-- the ladybugs can be smothered with the soap solution (which you do not want).

If you see this larvae on your roses or other plants-- do not kill-- these are ladybug larvae and are beneficial insects. Image is of a ladybug larvae going after aphids. Image enlarged to show detail.

[gabstoomuch]

posh, I like the garlic tip! A whole garlic bulb? or cut up? Skin on or of? Love these kinds of tips.

Aphids make me crazy.