Pruning Question

Yep your right David, Cooper is always there for me. A helpful lick here and there, he just loves the smell of blood and bone, drives him crazy.

On a serious note many of my roses that I applied the gentle rub to have new basal canes. Many more than past seasons. Thanks so much for the tip David.

Happy Monday Brett

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Who is Coopers assistant Brett ?

That is his big brother Jacko! Jacko is 6! We adopted him out of a foster program. Unfortunately he had a tough life before we got him. He was a breeder and we think other than his one task he was valuable for he copped a bit of abuse. He can be very timid but since we got Cooper he has come out of his shell somewhat. They play quite a bit and generally rarely seen apart although Jacko from his past doesn't like being in the yard much. They love snoozing on the back deck catching a little warmth on cooler mornings.

I'm so glad you rescued Jacko Brett,  Well Done again! 

I have a rescue dog as well - she's beautiful!  I Know David...... !!!!!!!!!!  Sorry!

If you read the above posts Sue, animals over rule the

 

Thanks David!!

SueH wrote:I'm so glad you rescued Jacko Brett,  Well Done again! 

I have a rescue dog as well - she's beautiful!  I Know David...... !!!!!!!!!!  Sorry!

Jacko was a confused little man when we got him and we ended up getting a Dog Whisperer in to help turn him around. He trusted no one and was a load of trouble. It all came down to how he had been previously treated. He was a breeder and than his owner died so he and his siblings ended up at his owners sisters place then from there to the pound. They were rescued from there and put into a adoption program. Now Jacko is gentleman and a fine little guard dog and all round good mate.

Cheers
Brett

How is our patient(rose) Brett any signs of new basal shoots yet ?

Hi David,

The Best Friend Rose is looking good!

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So all good David. No new news on the Tiger rose! It is still alive but yet to show signs of new growth. Maybe asking a little too much but we will wait and see.

Cheers
Brett

Well done Brett, have faith it will shoot, don;t forget to keep the water up to it, but not wet.

I have read are many articles that say a dose of Epsom Salts helps to promote the emergence of water shoots. I have used it but I haven't been able to establish it as a fact beyond reasonable doubt.

Will do David, May need a little more help than I can provide but hey we will give it a chance.

Brett

Good work on the rose rejuvenation, and your furry friends Brett!

Now I have a tricky question - I've buried the bud union on my roses incase we ever get snow here (apparently it's happened before, but it was a long time ago).

So what can you do to encourage basal breaks if you can't access the graft?

you may get collar rot at your bud union, Zoe......but having said that, the Canadians bury there roses over winter to protect them from the snow and ice........

I have said this previously. I think we are trying to make, what is a simple process, into something far more complicated than it really is.

Burying the bud union, is a very "contentious" area, there are two thoughts or sides. As John mentioned the Canadians do it and also the some of the Northern states of America, closer to Canada, Zone's from 3a down. Not forgetting a lot of thier stuff is 'cutting grown' not budded. One thought is if the rootstock is weak or as a back up to the rootstock dying. It also will send out roots from the bud union, which in turn gives support, another food supply chain. These are just some of things that come from burying the union. Not burying will be added after work this afternoon.

Zoe the plant you have placed below the ground will shoot roots out and also will send out basals as it was a 'cutting' grown rose(most miniature roses are cutting grown), might be straight away, but will happen.

So David, does this mean "cutting grown" roses will not get suckers or is that just my wishful thinking?!

Sue, from my understanding they may still sucker, BUT the suckers will be the rose you ordered, not the rootstock.

muscovyduckling wrote:Sue, from my understanding they may still sucker, BUT the suckers will be the rose you ordered, not the rootstock.

You are correct Zoe, as you have said, some varieties will be worse than others. The suckers will come up close to the original plant not metres away. I guess the best way to explain this is that the suckers will be like underground water shoots or basal breaks.

Oh.  Thank you both!  Why then do we bother with root stock?  Is it just to be able to have stronger growing roses?
                 

Re: Pruning Question, is it time to prune and if so should I start mine now or am I a bit early,

Nooooooo..... look at it this way - you can be very early OR very late, which ever suits your mood!  !!!!!

On a more serious note, thank you Doug for that info - of course, I didn't think of the cost!  Interesting you should say someone you know went to a conference and this was discussed etc.  Maybe they are  now thinking it's six of one and half a dozen of the other, regarding time and cost!

In the USA there are a number of nurseries that produce roses exclusively by cutting.