Pruning Rose throughtout the Year

Pruning roses is really easy with the right techniques and tools. What we are going to do is break down pruning to time of year, so you can keep this as a little calendar of care for your roses.  

Mid February to Early March-The Rejuvenating Pruning
Recommended Tools: Loppers, pruning shears, canvas or denim coat, thick gloves and eye protection.

The goal for rejuvenating pruning is to refresh the plant by cutting it way back and thinning out some of the older canes.  
For Miniatures, Shrub, Floribundas, Hybrid Teas, Grandifloras, and David Austin or Romanitca roses, you want to take the loppers and cut the canes down to about 18 inches to 24 inches. Once cut down, remove any damaged, dead or crossing branches with the pruning shears or loppers.  Next you will remove about a third of the canes (some older, some newer) with the loppers.  For climbers, we generally with leave them trained to the trellis, we just remove the crossing, damaged or dead branches and canes. For Ground Cover Roses, shear back to 2 to 3 feet wide and thin out the damaged, crossing and dead branched.

April till Mid Octoberish- Deadheading and shaping.
Recommended Tools: Pruning Shears, thick gloves and eye protection.    

Deadheading and shaping is to remove spent blooms and errant growth.  This is recommended to do at least monthly, to promote new blooms on most classes.

For Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Climbing, David Austin/Romanitca, and Shrub Roses; we recommend grabbing the stem just below the base of the bud (less thorns are there).  You want to cut at a 45 degree angle just above the second fifth leaf set.  If the plant is leggy or you want to reduce its height you can cut lower than this leaf set.

For Miniatures, grab the stem below the bud and cut just above the first leaf set.

For Ground Cover Roses, generally we don’t worry about dead heading because they are self cleaning and it takes way to long trim out all those blooms. Mainly worry about if encroaching on sidewalks, patios or other plants. Cut back and your done.

October or November-Prepping for Winter.
Recommended Tools: Pruning Shears or Hedge Shears, thick gloves and jacket.

On all classes dead head and tidy up the shape of the plant, so looks decent for the winter. Hedge shears are okay to use on everything except for Climbers, they make the job quick and easy.   For climbers, just use pruning shears to selectively remove spent blooms and errant branches.

Written by
Alex Job

6 Ways To Grow Roses Easily

Roses love our warm, dry climate.  Here are some steps to make roses easy to grow.

1. Give roses light, they do best if they get at least 8 hours of sunlight a day.  Afternoon sun is best for the warmth to encourage more flowers.

2. Give roses some space,  jamming them in tight leads to more disease, bugs and literal pain as you try to prune them.  We like to take the height of the rose plant, divide it in half and add 1 to 2 more feet to give us a distance to keep the plant from other roses, structures or other plants.  This spacing allows you better access to prune roses when needed. Proper spacing also allows airflow to dry the foliage and prevent disease from occurring. It allows beneficials (predator insects, birds, or spiders) to assist in keeping aphids and other bad bugs down.

3. Water roses to keep them blooming.  If your not sure if they are getting enough, they communicate by wilting and not blooming a lot.  Roses can be watered by drip or overhead sprinklers.  If you water overhead, to prevent diseases, make sure the roses go into the night dry. 

4. Feed roses for the most blooms and healthy leaves.  Start feeding them April 1st and feed as directed until August 15th.  Choose a blend geared for roses or flowers, preferably one with trace elements in it to build strong foliage.

5. Mulch roses for winter.  In October mound bark or compost 2 to 4 inches around the crown or bud union; this protects the crown from heavy freezes and prevents damage. Using compost instead of bark is a great way to build up the soil with nutrients for the roses to come out winter ready to grow.  In March rake the mulch flat. If the roses are plant in gardens of rock mulch you could use landscape edging to create a ring around the plant to allow for mulching.

6. Observe your plants or roses, is simply walking through and making sure things are looking good.  If the plant is having a problem (bugs or disease), get it identified then use the proper solution for that problem.  If you are not sure what the problem is or the best solution, you can ask us.

Hopefully this will help you take care of your roses easily in the Tri-Cities and make them the fun and enjoyable plant that they truly are.

Written by Alex Job

Establishing Your New Tree from Job’s Nursery

Establishing Your New Tree from Job’s Nursery

Watering for the First Year

In the first growing season, all new plants (including drought resistant ones) need extra water to allow them root into the surrounding soil. Make sure to deep soak the plants enough with a sprinkler on a hose; so that your soil is moist to 12 inches below the surface of the dirt a day after you have watered. You want your moisture to soak in this deep so that your plant’s roots develop deep and can handle not being watered for a few days in case there are problems with your irrigation system. If in doubt, you need to dig down 12 inches with a shovel, trowel or use a soil probe to make sure you are soaking in deep enough.

A general deep soaking schedule for sand loam soil (the main soil texture for Tri-Cities) it is listed by day time high temperatures
50 ̊F or less once a month for evergreens, check every two months for deciduous plants 50 to 70 ̊F deep soak once every two weeks after foliage emerges or drops on deciduous

70 to 85 ̊F deep soak once a week for one hour
85 to 95 ̊F deep soak twice a week for two hours
Above 95 ̊F soak three times a week for two hours
After all wind storms when temperature highs are above 85 ̊F go check the soil moisture.
**For Clay or compacted soil you will need to shorten you water run time and increase the amount of time your water to get the same effect**

Remember to check your sprinklers, filters and drip emitters regularly. A plugged sprinkler or drip emitter will not a water a plant adequately, if at all. Also to prevent fungal disease, try to avoid watering late evening and night on a daily basis, fungus likes cool and moist conditions.

Removing the Stakes

Remember the stakes, if needed, are to be removed after the tree has been planted for a year.

Good Fertilizing Practices

We recommend using the Fertilome Start N Grow every April 1st and July 1st. Or you can use the Miracle-Gro Fertilizer Tree Spikes every April 1 and August 15. You may have to use an additional fertilizer, or to adjust the ph of the soil.

Plant Problem Diagnosis

Remember when a plant is causing you to question it’s health, please contact us when you notice a problem, not after the plant dies, because most of the time a simple fix is all that is required. We invite you to call, or send us an email with photos of the problem or bring us a bagged sample to help you answer and solve your plant problem.

Excerpt from Job's Nursery's Planting and Care Guide