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Roses
We just moved into this house a few months ago. There are rose bushes on the side of the house that bloomed pretty pink roses for most of the summer. Now that it's time to prune them for the spring, I realize that some of them are in really bad shape. I'm not sure if they got frost-bit during the winter, or what happened, but a lot of the branches are black. Some of the bushes would have to be trimmed to 3-4" off of the ground to get rid of the black and get to the buds. The others that are more healthy can be pruned to 1/3-1/2 of their size with no problems. I really think the lady that lived here before us rarely pruned these bushes because there is a lot of woody stalks and twiggy branches that just shouldn't be there, and I believe these are well established bushes that have been here for awhile.
So I guess my questions are:
1. Is it really hard to kill a rosebush if you "had" to prune it to 3-4" above the ground?
2. What can I do to prevent these black dead-looking branches next year?
3. When and with what should I fertilize the roses?
Thanks in advance ladies! This is our first house and I am new to this stuff!
Re: Roses
I've never dealt with this myself but I found this link about brown canker and wonder if that's what is infecting your roses. There's information about how to handle it here.
Roses are extremely resilient for me. I've cut a couple to the ground (diseased plants I'd intended to get rid of) and had them come back.
As far as what to use on roses, I use Bayer systemic rose food. It controls diseases, insects and fertilizes all in one. You just place the granules at the base of the plant every few weeks. I never had any luck with organic solutions and spraying (for insects in particular) was constant. I had great luck with the systemic.
to answer your questions:
1. if the plant is dead until a few inches from the ground, you have to cut it off no matter what. i doubt it will hurt the rose bush unless they're really sickly, which doesn't sound like the case. as the pp said, they're very resilient.
2. prune in the fall! this will minimize dead canes in the spring. if you're in a really harsh area for winter weather, you can also pile mulch around the pruned bush and wrap it in burlap, or just wrap it in burlap. i've never done either (when i was in pennsylvania) but i've seen it in books. check out this link and then scroll down to basic pruning guidelines, it's the 4th link. they're pretty good. ignore the seasonal info and look at the technique. the best advice i ever got about pruning roses is to start at the bottom third of the plant, not the top. if you start from the top you may not prune enough, or, you'll realize you need to prune more than you did and have to go back and re-do.
3. i second the bayer systemic rose fertilizer. if the weather is getting nice, start.
go to the library... you'll find lots of good books about roses.