This article was written by Kathy Hummel, Coles County Master Gardener.

I've always been a little afraid of roses because of their temperamental reputation. Our new landscaping last year included some fairy shrub roses. All summer long I battled black spot with fertilizer, sulfur, pruning and removing the infected parts, to no avail. This spring, they're going to rose heaven, to be replaced by Knockout roses which are SUPPOSED to be relatively care-free. We'll see...

The information for this column comes from the Coles County U of I Extension website. http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/hort_env.html On this site you will find a wealth of information on many subjects. Do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to browse through it.

General Suggestions for Pruning Roses

The majority of pruning is done in the spring. Many rose growers suggest waiting until the forsythias start to bloom as a good signal for the pruning season to begin. The goal of spring pruning is to produce an open centered plant. This allows air and light to penetrate easily.

Pruning rose bushes can be confusing, especially when you start talking about hybrid teas, old garden roses, shrub roses, once-blooming roses, and English roses. This confusion leads to doubt and improper pruning or no pruning.

The class of rose and the time of year it blooms influence the type and amount of pruning. General pruning principles apply to all roses, but there are differences between classes. The closer one gets to species roses the less severe the pruning. Hybrid teas have the distinction of requiring the most severe pruning for optimum bloom and plant health.

Because of the variety of rose types available, one may need to have an understanding of how the rose flowers. Regard pruning as applying a few common sense principles to accomplish several tasks. These tasks are: removing dead, damaged, or diseased wood, increasing air circulation, keeping the shrub from becoming a tangled mess, shaping the plant, and encouraging the growth of flowering wood.

Basic pruning fundamentals that apply to all roses include:

· Use clean, sharp equipment.

Sharp Hand Pruners - For a clean cut select the bypass/scissor type and not anvil pruners. Anvil pruners are better suited for cutting back dead branches and stems.

Long Handled Loppers

Pruning Saw

Heavy Gloves - Don't skimp on the gloves. One nasty tangle with a thorny cane can bring a swift end to your love affair with roses.

White Glue - Glue that dries clear is an easy and affordable pruning seal.

· Cut at a 45-degree angle about 1/4 inch above outward-facing bud. Slant the cut away from the bud.

· Entirely remove all dead or dying canes. Look for canes that are shriveled, dark brown, or black.

· After making cuts, seal the ends of the cuts with white glue to prevent cane borers from entering.

· Remove all thin, weak canes that are smaller than a pencil in diameter.

If roses are grafted and there is sucker growth, remove it. The best way is to dig down to the root where the sucker originates and tear it off where it emerges. Cutting suckers, rather than tearing only encourages re-growth of several suckers where there once was one.

Special Notes

Prune old fashioned roses with a lighter hand than hybrid teas. Simply remove any dead or damaged wood, the top 1/3 of growth, and crisscrossing branches. Old fashioned roses that flower once each growing season, such as Damasks and Mosses, bloom on old wood. These types should be pruned in the summer after they have flowered.

Dead-heading is removing faded flowers before they can develop seed. Dead-heading is a form of summer or day-to-day pruning. The standard recommendation is to cut the flower stem back to an outward-facing bud above a five-leaflet or seven-leaflet leaf.

This "rule" applies best to plants that are vigorous. If the plant is weak or small, you may not want to cut off as much material. Each time you remove this much wood you are removing a lot of the food-making ability of the plant. This method works well for most recurrent-blooming types of roses.

With rugosa and other shrub roses where hips are a part of the display, you may not want to prune off the old flowers. In this case, simply clean the spent blooms away with your hand, leaving the hips. Flowers should not be cut after October 1 to allow the plant to begin hardening off for the winter. Dead-heading is also a good way to lessen the likelihood of diseases such as botrytis from becoming a problem.

To finish the job, pick up all the resulting debris, bag it and throw it away to prevent any possible contamination from botrytis or black spot.

If your fingers are getting itchy to prune, dig and plant, put this date on your calendar: Saturday, April 26 is the Master Gardener sale at Herbfest in Mattoon at the corner of 9^th and Broadway by the Picket Fence. Those of you who have been there before know about the wonderful selection and reasonable prices at the Master Gardener booth, as well as the many other vendors.

Master Gardeners at Lawn and Garden Show

The Coles county Extension Master Gardeners will be participating in the Lawn and Garden Show at the Cross County mall later this month. Juanita Sherwood and Lynn Kendrick will speak at 10:30 am on Saturday, March 29 on "Wildlife Management in the Home Garden." If you have had critter problems in your landscaping, vegetable or flower gardens, you will be interested in some of the management techniques they discuss. Watch for more details and location in next week's column or check the Coles County Extension Web site at www.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/

If you have any horticulture questions, call the local U of I Extension office Monday through Friday at 345-7034. Volunteer Master Gardeners are not in the office this time of year–they will return your call.

This column is based on information and materials available at the University of Illinois Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A., Charleston, 61920; phone 345-7034; or web site: www.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/