Pruning roses - help! Do I really cut down to 30cm from ground?

[Vagabond]

Hello!

I've moved to an old cottage and inherited a large garden with plenty of rose bushes. I noticed last spring/summer that the rose bushes were straggly and produced few flowers. Most of the bushes are about 5 to 6 feet tall.

I've read online and watched instructional videos on how to prune the bushes. Most say to prune vigorously down to 30cm from the ground and to leave only 4 or 5 canes. Is that right? It seems counter-intuitive to chop down whole bushes to so little.

Any advice? Please!
Thanks!

Do it, your roses will thank you for it. The root ball gets bigger every year so your plant will grow just as big. It wont be as straggly

I have tried it with my Gertrude Jekyll this year.
But with the climbing roses I have cut out all the dead wood and pruned to within 2 ft of the wall/trellis, leaving the outward facing buds just like the books say! I did this last weekend and this weekend they are looking very happy. I don't know if it will work. I also left the strong stems which are climbing into the tree.

Depends on the type of rose and how old the plant is. Moderate pruning is recommended for most established rose types (apart from miniatures and climbers) according to my book 'The Rose Expert' - it says to cut back stems to about half of their length and more for weaker stems.

Glad you asked it has made me look it up and I'll get started on mine this week!!

Another question re. pruning.

Some cold-ish weather is forecast for next week. Should I wait before I prune my rose bushes then?

No, don't worry. Roses are very resilient and will recover. You will see new buds are already bursting out, so the plants are telling you now is the time to prune. Make sure that you give them a good feed after pruning.

I can hardly ever bear to do it to mine - I should really take more off than I do. (except the standards and half-standards obv! )

Thanks, Kitden. What kind of feed do you give it? Is it something I should get from the shops?

I have been putting some of my compost (which is full of worms) by the roots but I may need some specialist stuff.

Roses like well rotted manure best of all if you can get it. We have tonnes, literally, for free, it's like poo heaven

Thanks, Pear. I will try to get hold of some.

RatDesPaquerettes i'll suggest to wait for some time?let the weather be back to normal then go for pruning the bushes..

Sorry, silly question - so even though my rose bush has lots of buds already, I should be chopping them off and cutting it right back?

It will be fine Jimbo. Cut back to just above a bud and they will grow new shoots in a bit. Don't worry about the weather. If you can't get hold of well rotted manure you could try chicken manure pellets or a rose feed from the supermarket. Garden centres do often have bags of manure though.

Thanks to all of you. I think I will wait one more week and then do the deed!