Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Mailbag: How do you prune carpet roses?

Groundcover roses benefit from annual pruning (but don't need much)

Bright pink rose
Flower Carpet Pink was the first of the Flower Carpet
roses and is still the most popular. (Photo courtesy
Anthony Tesselaar)

Question: Do you have specific recommendations for pruning back carpet roses? I’m usually pretty indiscriminate and just cutting it down to a cane length of about 12 inches. Again, pretty indiscriminate. Should I get in there and cut away individual canes, even if they’re not dead and brown? Other advice?

--Brian Hudson

Answer: Carpet and landscape roses are very forgiving. They can be pruned with a hedge trimmer because the nodes (where the leaves attach to the canes) are so close together. But they appreciate some TLC and will bloom more with thoughtful pruning.

Carpet roses get their nickname from the brand name, Flower Carpet. Several “groundcover roses” are marketed under that label, all by color: Scarlet, Coral, Pink, Red, White, Yellow, Amber (a glowing yellow-orange) plus the more evocative shades of Appleblossom, Pink Splash and Pink Supreme.

Originally hybridized in Germany, Flower Carpet roses are best sellers worldwide, with an estimated 50 million sold annually. Introduced in 1992, Flower Carpet Pink was the first of this series to be grown in the U.S. and is still the most popular.

Marketed as super easy-care, carpet roses need little maintenance other than annual pruning. They’re “self cleaning,” which means spent flowers drop off by themselves – no need for deadheading. They’re highly resistant to fungal diseases, bloom profusely from spring to fall and take less water than lawn. Another plus: They can tolerate air pollution from car exhaust, making them a good choice for parking lots and street landscaping.

Peach Drift roses in hedge
Peach Drift roses make a pretty garden hedge when planted
in a mass. (Photo courtesy Star Roses and Plants)

Drift groundcover roses, created by California-based Star Roses and Plants, offer many of the same easy-care attributes as Flower Carpet roses. Drift roses are a cross of earlier groundcover roses and miniature roses. The Drift series, which now has nine varieties, features more orange tones and very full blooms with lots of petals: Apricot, Coral, Peach, Lemon, Pink, Popcorn, Red, White and Sweet (baby pink).

As their name implies, groundcover roses grow low with a trailing habit, staying under 24 inches tall. While staying low, they can spread 6 feet wide. That trailing habit also makes them attractive in pots or hanging containers, or along walls where they can drape over the edge.

I prune my landscape roses to 15-18 inches tall; they don't need much, height-wise. The question is width; sometimes, canes can invade other plants’ space so their spread needs to be tamed.

I take out any dead wood plus crossing canes in the center of the plant to improve air circulation (which cuts down on any fungal growth). They tend to get really dense with canes if you don't take some out. Ideally, leave five to seven canes for these roses. (More is OK, too.)

Strip off any remaining leaves; they can contain fungal spores that will infect the new growth.

After pruning, give these roses new mulch, but hold off on fertilizer until late February.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Ad for California Local

Thanks to our sponsor!

Summer Strong ad for BeWaterSmart.info

Dig In: Garden Checklist

For week of March 24:

In between cloud bursts, try to catch up with early spring chores. 

* Attack weeds now! Get them before they flower and go to seed. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout. Aim for 1 inch below the soil line.

* Start preparing vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.

* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.

* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit. To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.

* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product).

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Try using well-composted manure, spread 1-inch thick under the tree. This serves as both fertilizer and mulch, retaining moisture while cutting down on weeds.

* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.

* Seed and renovate the lawn (if you still have one). Feed cool-season grasses such as bent, blue, rye and fescue with a slow-release fertilizer. Check the irrigation system and perform maintenance. Make sure sprinkler heads are turned toward the lawn, not the sidewalk.

* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and cole family plants, such as cabbage, broccoli, collards and kale.

* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground.

* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.

* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!