Basic rose maintenance?

[FlanneryCam]

I have a rose vine on my property that I didn't even notice until this spring. It was beautiful and seems to be happy just doing its own thing.

But I was wondering what if anything I should be doing to help the vine out. It's been uncared for over 5 years and seems happy. Still, I've heard roses are tough and need love. Has this rose vine proven the theory wrong and should I just leave it be? It is right in front of my house and once the flowers die looks a little sloppy for the rest of the season. Should I cut it back?

 

[Flourishes]

I have no idea whether you should cut it back or not. Sorry. Others on this forum will be able to give you some tips about that, I will say though, that I had some experience with a rose bush.

The one thing that I noticed was that it needed a lot of water. I don't know if this is always the case with roses, as I am more of a plant grower as opposed to a flower or vegetable grower, but the only thing that I really did to that rose bush that I had was water it in abundance.

I did not have to tend it long, because it was in front of a house that I inherited. I tended that rosebush for awhile until the house was sold. But with my only watering it, it looked great..

 

[iagirl]

In the spring I trim off all the dead stuff and anything that is too out of control. Once a rose bush is well established they are pretty hard to kill.

 

[thelovelyone]

Your rose vine has been growing beautifully for five years uncared for? That's awesome--thank goodness for nature. It appears nature has stepped in and helped quite a bit since the roses are in great condition. The least you could do is give it trims and fertilize it once a month. It'll give the roses strength and allow it to continue to grow with low maintenance.

 

[maddie]

Wow! you are lucky. I have had rose vines which needed care., I would usually prune the plant a bit after the flowering season to encourage branching and new growth. We had an nice arch with a rose vine and the more we pruned it the more it filled out and looked glorious. I wouldn't cut it back the way we generally do with other roses.

 

[Pat]

I don't give my rose bush the care it should get continutly. Roses will serve but look better if cared for. They need a lot of water, should be deadheaded and pruned. I compost the kitchen greens with coffee and tea grinds and make a deep watering on a weekly basis for my rose bush. Right now I am cutting away dead limbs.

 

[marlingardener]

As other posters have stated, roses are tough! We have quite a few roses here on our Texas farm, and they are doing rather well (that was an understatement, but I hate to brag).
If there are canes that are crossed and rubbing each other, cut one out. If the center of the bush is thick, prune two or three of the scraggliest canes out to improve air circulation. In spring, when the first leaves appear, give the bush a light fertilizing (I use composted cow manure, but being in Texas, we have a lot of that) using a balanced fertilizer (chemical, 5-5-5; organic, composted manure or fish emulsion.
Any dead cane should be removed, right down to the ground.
And don't fuss your roses! More roses have been destroyed by over-fertilization, over-pruning, and over-worrying than by neglect!

 

[Autumn_Hearthwitch]

My old property had a wild rose bush with beautiful pink roses. It grew quite big and I would prune it regularly. We moved 2 years ago and I have attempted to grow more roses but so far it's not working. My first rose bush produced exactly 2 flowers and then just seemed to die. We got another rose bush but this one doesn't seem to be doing anything at all. We've since moved it as we were thinking maybe it didn't like the spot where we put it. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be happier where it is now and grow beautifully. I have other plants, bushes and trees around the property and have no problems with any of them.

 

[NatalieW]

The pruning will depend on the type of rose it is ... not all roses require the same steps. Repeat bloomers will be treated differently than a rose that only blooms once a season. So knowing what it is will give you the best start possible.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

I prune my climbing roses back every spring once I see new growth, I cut about half of the plant away to get new growth from the bottom so they don't become leggy, they bloom better after a good pruning.