and the roses are finally all pruned! I wasn't quite sure but it turns out that I have eight rose bushes. And while I am very capable of pruning roses, they don't intimidate me because I learned how to do it, sadly I have never pruned the roses here at this house and this will be our 4th summer here. I know I talked about it last year but seriously, I had a brand new baby AND I was recovering from a C-section. It wasn't happening.
It was torturous, let me tell you! A rose that has gotten away with itself for a number of years is quite difficult to reign back in. They get huge and wild and very thorny and quite like a child grown up without discipline. But it's complete now and they are back to bare bones...literally. I, on the other hand, have many scratches and thorn-pokes to show for my labors.
oh my gosh! It's naked!
Rose bushes OUT OF CONTROL!
These two bushes are ancient! Many dead branches and old trunks.
Rose bushes ready for a new season of growth...
6 backward glances:
We cut our rose bushes down that far two years ago in the spring. That summer and last summer they didn't grow one rose. I hope that doesn't happen to yours. I was really sad. Hopefully this year we will have some roses.
even if there are no roses on them this year, there will be brand new growth on them and that was a big part of the major pruning. so much of them were already dead, I need to force new growth. there are new buds already on the few i pruned a few weeks ago so i'm not too worried. i'm sorry you went two whole years without roses though. did you water them really good right after the pruning? that's pretty key!
I'm pretty sure we watered them really well. Our sprinkler system was set too frequently back then. I remember our backyard lawn was mushy when we would walk on it. Hopefully this year we'll get roses. The bushes have grown back pretty well.
I love the clean look. I'm sure the roses will do just fine. I was always shocked when Herb would prune his fruit trees back to bare bones and then by May the blossoms were everywhere.
As for the scratches, I went into the desert yesterday to pick up trash the I could see from my kitchen window. Without even thinking about it I reached into a "plant" that was really a cactus incognito OUCH! At least you have a hope that your scratches will produce something beautiful. My scratches are just a reminder that I live in a desert where nothing grows except thorns, snakes and cacti.
They will be GORGEOUS this summer, after all that hard work. They always seem to do better when you hack them back.
They are going to be GREAT! I've got the hose right at their base for over 2 hours each several days in a row and will continue that until they sprout really good. I'm so excited to see how they come out. Hopefully I'll have practically brand new bushes that don't take over the space like they used to.
Rachel, when you come in June, they will probably be at their prime.
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