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Roses seem to grow and produce flowers for only a few years before becoming exhausted and starting to develop flowers down the lower part of the stem.Pruning is therefore needed to prvent the plant becoming a tangled mass of dying and living wood with inferior blooms.

Rambling Roses

Rambling roses have diminished in popularity over the years.They bloom only once a year albeit with a spectacular show of flowers but are not generally disease resistant and do need regular pruning.

Flowers grow on new wood so you will need to prune each year for a good show of flowers all over the plant.However rambling roses are a good choice in some areas, where their natural talents can be exploited.Rambling roses flexible stems will clamber enhusiastically up dead trees that would otherwise be an eyesore, or scramble riotously along the soil to produce unusual ground cover.

Climbing Roses

Climbing roses have much less flexiable stems than rambling roses, many are more disease resistant and some are repeat flowering.Since flowers develop on a framework of established wood,pruning climbing roses is a much less demanding than pruning rambling roses.Essential pruning is restricted to removing dead weak or diseased growth.

Deadhead as much as is practical during the summer and prune in the autumn after flowering.If you also shorten the side shoots that have flowered taking them back to three buds.You will encouragea good coverage of flowers next year.

Regenerating Old Climbing Rose

If a climbing rose has been neglected and lateral growth not encouraged by regular training and tying in, there may be many bare stems visible near ground level.You can encourage new basal shoots to develop by cutting down some of the old bare stems almost to ground level.

Hybrid tea and Floribunda Roses

Hybrid tea and floribunda roses are popular garden choices and have broadly similar pruning needs.Hybrid teas have been used for around 100 years their flowers have what is often seen as a classic rose shape.Hybrid teas are available in an amazing range of colours and are often well fragranced.

However there are some drawbacks with some varieties many hybrid tea bushes are quite ridged in shape, producing quite a stiff appearance that does not suit all gardens.Hybrid teas generally bloom less frequently than floribundas and are more susceptable to rain damage and not tolerent to less than perfect conditions.

Floribunda roses have been popular for around the last 50 years.Although the individual blooms may not be as first choice compared to the hybrid teas floribundas are chosen for there ability to flower continuously for long periods of time.Their increased disease resistance their ability to thrive in less than perfect conditions and for their rain tolerance.

Prune hybrid tea and floribunda roses in early spring when growth is just begining but to avoid the possibility of damage by wind rock cut back long shoots in autumn.Cut stems back to approximately half there length and remove damaged weak or diseased stems.Floribundas hard prune some old stems close to the ground to encourage new basal growth, while pruning last years new shoots only moderately.This variable pruning will encourage a good coverage of flowers over the whole plant.