April 30, 2010, Newsletter Issue #312: Easy Care Pruning.
Tip of the Week
Within the last decade the controversial "Easy Care Pruning" technique has had a lot of press.
The idea is to forget all the textbook methods of pruning bush roses and simply cut the bushes down to half their height using electric hedge shears. No attention is paid to removing dead wood, weak shoots and the cuts are not necessarily in the "right" place.
I have spoken to several Rose companies and even the Royal National Rose Society. All have held trials and universally the results are that this method is at least equal in merit to the traditional methods.
With this in mind I have trialled the technique over a range of hybrid teas, floribundas, patio roses , miniature and new English.
As a control, adjacent bushes of the same varieties were pruned using the laborious traditional
moderate pruning technique.
Without exception, the roses trimmed with hedge shears flowered at least a week earlier, flower and flower size unaffected.
Another major plus is speed. Pruning using electric hedgeshears is at least 10 times faster!
It just goes to prove that you never stop learning.
I wonder what the Victorian and Edwardian would have made of this new innovation?
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