Pruning and Fertilizing Roses

By Karen Dunn

A Karen’s Corner Blogette

Although I haven’t been a serious rose gardener, I do love the ones I have. And thanks to local gardener Kirsten Eastland and her passion for roses, I am slowly expanding my collection.

I came across these helpful videos recently. Jason Croutch from the Fraser Valley Rose Farm in Deroche, BC takes some of the mystery out of growing roses.

This rose pruning video is easy to follow and gives a lot of good advice.

Now I’m ready to tackle some long-overdue pruning on my Rugosa after the cold snap.

The second video is all about feeding your roses. Again, very simple and easy. He talks about all the different ways to fertilize, including water soluble ones. Jason prefers to feed the soil using alfalfa pellets and compost at the base of the bush. Find out when to start fertilizer feeding, all the types, how often, and when to stop. His first feeding is at pruning time so these two videos kind of go hand in hand.

According to phenology, roses should be pruned when the Forsythia is in bloom. Another sign to look for is the swelling of leaf buds on the rose bush indicating a good time to prune. Do the two coincide? I’ll let you know in my next blog.

On a side note…other good things to do when the forsythia blooms…plant peas and other cool crops like lettuce and spinach.