Half dead roses

[April]

Ok so we are living at my husband grandmothers. The house has not been taken care of since she died in 2005, well a little bit, but not the plants. The roses are very small and look pitiful. I am unsure how to even begin taking care of them! Also there are two bad ones.

One is produces lovely full roses at the top of it, but the bottom of it is dead. The rose bush is probably about 5foot.
Two, the second one the middle of it is dead. It is pretty much a stump now and pieces are groing out and around it alive. How do I start getting roses read for spring to be at full potential and to start making them live properly again? If I get pics I shall let you know.

I also want to move one of the smaller ones. Suggestions welcomed.

 

[SunBakedParadise]

Roses are very resilient and will survive most conditions but to really get those beautiful award winning roses they need to be properly pruned. You have a great canvas for practicing how to prune roses. The bush producing roses up top and is dead and scraggly at the bottom has been left to do its own thing and is putting all of its energy into growing up and out. If you want to redirect the bushes growth downward and want a denser bush prune the top and upper levels growth.

And the stump is the prime example of my method of pruning "The Do-Over". The rose did not take the growth pattern I want, looks scraggly etc, cut it back to a stump in the fall and fresh growth will arrive by spring. I am by no means an expert these are just general pruning rules. So you will want to find out which type of rose bushes you have and how to prune them to reach your goal.

 

[April]

Okay sounds very logical, just wasn't sure if that was an issue or not. If I had been sure of what to do I would have pruned them last fall, but I was busy with overworking myself outside of home. Now, is there a way to id them before they bloom and is advisable to prune them right before spring starts? I want to at least attempt start to make them look presentable and nice again.

 

[April]

Btw, thanks for the tips!

 

[firelily99]

Everything that Sunbaked is excellent advice, roses are resilient. Get them some rose specific fertilizer and mulch around the plants, they will thank you for it by blooming for you!

 

[Pat]

Great tips, pruning is the key. I have cut mine down to the ground and had a beautiful plant in the spring. The dead part, cut and pull it out as much as you can. When the plant starts to bloom in the spring cut it again. That will cause the plant to regrow stronger. During the growing period you will need to feed it and water well. Water is the key. You will be very pleased with your new plants.

 

[gata montes]

April - As many have already said - roses are extremely resilient and much more robust than many people realize - but in order for them thrive and bloom profusely - they need to be pruned properly and from what you describe your roses sound very much like they need rejuvenating - which requires heavy pruning.

Before doing anything to your roses - it is is a good idea to make sure that your pruning shears or secateurs are sterile - especially as roses are prone to disease - which can be done by using rubbing alcohol on the blades - next you will need to reduce the number of stems or canes by half - which means cutting them down to just above soil level - as well as removing all the dead and weak growth - together with any branches or stems that are crossing over each other and any suckers that are growing around the base - once you have done that - reduce the remaining stems or canes by at least half - aerate the soil around the base of the rose and fertilize - doing this should give you some much healthier and more attractive roses that bloom profusely

I would also mention that - when you prune a rose is almost just as important as how you prune and roses are generally pruned in late winter - while they are in their dormant stage - ideally somewhere between December and February - in which case as we are now part way through February - now is the time to get pruning

As you also mention that you would like to move one of your smaller roses - now is the best time to do that also

 

[April]

Thanks for everything guys I think I should be ok to go! I'll give an update when things get to moving. Thanks Gata you were very helpful. Once we get through all the freezing rain and have a nice day out again (menopausal mother nature lol) I will begin on my roses! I am glad I was able to get the info now. I hope the weekend if fairly decent so I can begin the process.

I really want to make the yard lovely again in honor of my husband grandmother. She was an extreme gardener! Wish I had pics.

 

[gata montes]

Thanks for everything guys I think I should be ok to go! I'll give an update when things get to moving. Thanks Gata you were very helpful. Once we get through all the freezing rain and have a nice day out again (menopausal mother nature lol) I will begin on my roses! I am glad I was able to get the info now. I hope the weekend if fairly decent so I can begin the process.

I really want to make the yard lovely again in honor of my husband grandmother. She was an extreme gardener! Wish I had pics.

You are welcome - I'm glad that we were all able to help and am sure that you will do a very good job of making your husband's grandmother's garden look spectacular again and will look forward to the updates of how you are getting along,

As you are still having bad weather - would just like to let you know - that if you are few weeks into March before you are able to do anything to your roses - it won't do any harm - as I have sometimes done mine as late as early April - in the years that the weather has been against me and they still thrived

 

[April]

Yeah I want to begin this weekend, I look forward to it so much! Yet...I am afraid it'll kill them. So I might put it off. Gah, I really hope not, but soon as we get warm and sunny (last weekend had a short and tanktop day) then it gets butt cold again.I may end up waiting till atleast early march to begin. I got roses and coleus to begin my work on! I have figured out they're all miny roses in the yard. I have 5 left I think. We plan on redoing are fence so I am wanting to move it to match the one by the drive way and hopefully guide them along a archway, if not it'll be fine...but luckily nothing has ever grown there. Just need to check drainage.