Why To be assured the gardener earns a flush of healthy blooms each year –for the next spring and summer, roses need to be pruned. Otherwise their stems and blooms become scraggly – long dragging stems with few or no blossoms- and certainly no bouquets. They provide no real show- like any neglected or wild rose.
Leaving weak stems, especially facing center, can result in stunted growths and overcrowding. These shoots do little else but green and slow ventilation – both of which favor holding in moisture – along with moist air’s ‘virus’, ‘fungi’ and ‘bacteria’[1] droplet hitchhikers.
As a metaphor, pruning might also be breaking off with a person, removing or withdrawing a resource from kindred or collective, etc. That each may come into their beauty as a reflection of their inner integrity. I describe this more fully in a footnote- though I’ve left plenty of riddle[2].
Who/ What
Pruning is the process of shaping a plant by strategically lopping its branches off, removing crossing, dead or dis-eased branches, and/or renovating- when you cut everything back to the ground. In the latter instance it must rebuild itself to regain her original blueprint- under a new set of conditions (as each year offers a fresh start).
While healing from renovations, she ‘hurriedly’ blooms to create her bouquets (and future rosehips).
As pruning removes top mass –removing usually leafless but still healthy green[3] stalks once bearing a past summer season’s leaves, rose is induced to both locally heal and replace itself[4], before she can bloom again.
Only then can buds hydrate, expand and elaborate their nescient fractals in accordance with seasonal sunshine.
**
“Layered” plants also might need pruning. This is when a cracked or nicked stem and tangent meristem cells, is weighted on[5] or under the earth, stimulating the now-exposed meristem to sprout its own set of roots and stalk – whilst feeding off the mother plant. “Layering” is a good way to propagate some old roses, and many shrubs in general. This is nature’s way of cloning an otherwise healthy plant damaged by elements or trampled.
When the layered plant is mature with a root system of its own – its cracked stem can be cleanly severed (leaving a little part of branch stuck to the back of it).
3 Where to make the cuts
To prune, I use basic principles; there may be others.
The guidelines are:
-cut stems that “cross others” (which wound, scar, and cause callous- indicators of chronic rubbing and movement),
-cut to an “outside bud” (so an open clear crown is favored), and
-angle it cleanly~45 degrees downwards” ( so water drips away).
Cut to the nearest stem with five leaves.
That’s it. Sounds easy doesn’t it?!
Still, when confronted with the actual plant – that seems ~itself beautiful and healthy, is in an otherwise a pleasing shape -even if not blooming, choosing which limbs to remove can feel like a dilemma.
Unlike hair which is assumed to grow back with the same vigor if you cut it, such that you’d never know a haircut had taken place a couple/few years earlier (if you’re a woman with longish hair), with rose plants, how it blooms next – depends on how it was pruned previously.
With age, surface wounds are cumulative. Rose wears her scars even when her blooms are showstoppers. Though there are some who will succumb without a regular spray of Neem. A good thing about plants – roses are easily replaceable. They can be dug up and are happy to become compost!
If we gardeners make mistakes, it’s not the end of their world!
For this reason, deciding which ones to prune, and exactly where to make the cuts is a form of ART or can feel so[6] , even though pruning otherwise seems ~Sisyphean.
While pruning disease-affected areas[7] might give a plant a second chance, one must keep in mind: ongoing conditions- within or without affect susceptibilities[8] to any challenges.
Well situated and cared for plants don’t get much troubled by pathogens. Stressed plants are most susceptible.
(Caveat: If you can see black fun-gal streak – evidence of pathogen infiltration- looking at the cross section of pruned branch, any shadow your naked eye can measure, microscopically the invasion goes much further deeper- so cut it well back.
Remember the mantra “right plant”, “right place”. Roses need full sun, rich soil, and drainage. Keep like plants together preferring similar conditions.
*****
Pruning’s wound management costs, including the inevitable induction of wound response and resulting anabolism to recreate a new base for the blossoms to form from, impacts bloom yields over a lifetime.
Pruning subjects a plant to surgical enhancements (an Arian’s approach to ‘correcting’ life). Sadly our hu(e)-man attempts at perfection are never quite successful and wounds must (get to) heal after each intervention.
So there’s downtime from perception of world’s outside judgments -which may really be the point of recuperation- to get away from ‘toxic’ individuals and conditions[9].
Besides roses, and people, are already cute and pretty, and handsome too – when doing what they l’ove doing what they’re doing. And yet here we are implying “be damaged to be beautiful”- or else she won’t bloom.
Thus vigorous shaping may not be necessary when a rose plant is planted correctly.
When I first moved into my house, I was so eager for rose blooms I planted them in two thin strips on the left and right side of my winding entrance walkway. With typical harsh pruning, by year 2, it was clear they were crowded. Thorny branches were almost sticking visitors.
Over the next two years I made two much larger beds for them and then transplanted them. They were doing beautifully this fall- much happier in their expansive digs – each with their own part of the lawn to look out on.
Give shrubs space; erect trellises for climbers.
{Perhaps we’re living in (an unnecessarily) bonsaied world- with our being situated in order to fit in.}
Timing
From the northern hemisphere’s perspective, the winter Solstice sun dramatically loses altitude while the sun’s rays face the tropic of Cancer. As sun’s maximum height in the sky is lessened, total photons are reduced; and less area under the curve in the passage of time called daylight.
With fewer photons to stir plants into radiating, the atmosphere consistently cools. Leaves stop producing sugars (and oxygen). ‘sap’ flows slowly or not at all. Crown is in a deep rest. A the plant goes into dormancy- suspended animation.
According to our local extension center[10] rose and rose family plants, like apples, plum, and cherry, prefer being pruned in dormancy – but before deep winter.
Gardener hopes to limit roots’ (frantic) ~auxin-driven reactions by lopping off a season’s growth of dry mass while it’s crown is ‘sleeping’. Otherwise a plant will produce watershoots- weak non-fruit bearing growth.
This is when a plant is least likely to ‘overreact’ to pruning wounds.
(So remove crown’s support when they won’t really notice it- when temps are cold for everybody. When dormant, wound management is more localized.
And when they wake up groggy, responses aren’t magnified.)
For us in the PNW, this is said to be in January – at least according to our extension’s test plot studies. (I hope this is true- I did it last week and carefully covered them, but a deep cold front has arrived since and hasn’t left.)
When to ideally ‘prune’ a plant may depend on a plant’s particular ambience; in New England pruning is done earlier, in November – as well it’s recommended to proactively remove leaves (to prevent desiccation from cold dry winds).[11] This isn’t advice I (yet) follow to pluck off functioning parts – but I’m not much of a rosarian- more hobbyist.
With root activity and mass being proportional to leaves’ metabolism (harmonized to support flowering bulk), metabolic imbalance is created when I cut off a lot of branches. This plummets inner plant pressures for ~1/2 hour on a temperate day (per cut).
With cuts, xylem’s hydrostatic pressure drops precipitously at the subterranean crown level -until the wound’ is sealed off- like a bleeding cut. It takes about a half an hour, per cut, to get the pressure back up. During this time, you can bet the plant’s on high alarm – and goes into a version of shock.
It’s better for the plant then, if it isn’t pruned while extra turgid and heavy– as in recently watered. Before you prune let a plant ‘dry out’ to reduce overhead mass before you lop it. (Give the offspring less of yourself- they must build their confidence.)
Wounds close using their (induced) genetic version of sealant. Until sealant is effective there are vascular holes -opportunity for plant pests to take hold – especially when growth is soft from over fertilizing and/or plant is dripping and saturated.
So also don’t prune when it’s raining –You’ll do extra damage –maybe leading to an infection needing more time to heal. Better to wait a storm out.
[Also, healthy humans are quite resilient and can bounce back almost immediately- Resilience holds when conditions are ~ordinary.
I like the idea of cutting back to a stem with five leaves; this stimulates another bud to grow. You’ll notice under spent blooms several sets of stems with three leaves – these gave the bloom extra boost. When getting ready to prune, since you’re attempting to redirect them, in this case out, reduce your support back to a previous level.
How
Sounds simple to prune- when you follow basic principles, which I stated above. While it’s mostly physically easy take away overgrown branches, maneuvering requires finesse.
One must make careful decisions, as each pruning cut wound is potentially so disruptive.
(Being pruned harshly is one reason rose is commonly ‘susceptible’ to pests. Each cut forces the plant further into a defensive- non-flowering mode; stress (the experience of creating an induced- cytokine response) weighs a plant metabolically and take energy to be heal, let alone then to produce blooms.)
After removing thin sprouts destined to cause crowding as they naturally enlarge over a season, I stand before each plant- contemplating possible cuts for the “crossing” ones.
I take time to visualize where the center of the plant really is – and then consider each branch- and how it is arranged like spoke relative to the center. Whichever one feeds back on itself should be the one to go.
Of the crossing couple- rubbing adds callous to both branches when they touch repeatedly from winds; I think I finally understand which one to remove.
I’m learning to clip the one not leading out from center. (I know this may seem no brainer, but it can be challenging to decide.)
Sometimes, I can tell in season’s past, I’ve chosen incorrectly- the branch I left, actually faced more towards the centerline than the one I cut – hampering air from healthy circulation.
The angle of the cut is important so rainwater drips off a branch instead of pooling. Pooling favors stagnation and growth of water- dependent microorganisms (emotionally driven pathos). Aiming for just the right point above their stem’s base – above the collar where the meristem cells populate, I make my cuts cleanly- or try; I’m not always successful – might end up with a ragged end; the dieback usually takes care of itself (eventually).
Pruning is itself a process requiring meticulous maneuvering and body positioning – especially as one to avoid getting poked by rose’s strategically placed thorns. This itself is taxing leg and back workout and you’ll still end up with scratches!
It’s a sad fact too, given that my bonsaied and stunted roses (by me the gardener) are often test tube babies grown in agar or grafted, the latter entailing a disrupted primary ‘vascular’ system (like a baby adopted by new mother) – these roses may not be very vigorous to begin with- it will be interesting to see how many I need to re-order.
For the future, rather than pruning to leaving ~24” canes like I have been, following traditional guidelines to produce outstanding shows of blooms- with each plant starting at nearly same height in springtime, I might follow the 1/3 rule –remove 1/3 of new growth come next late fall. This is a typical tree pruning guideline, instead of removing ~all new growth as I now do. I might find I need to re-situate them once again, if some turn out too tall.
In a couple of years I’ll know the results of my experiment. We shall see.
[1] Letting moisture = emotion, “facts” intruders with data (bacteria, virus, and fungi) that challenge and promote defensive triggering of lineage-programmed healing.
I get wary when another’s emotions (and tales of woe) are used as a motivator for me to act – especially when my actions are to be on behalf of another’s health or wellness which technically aren’t/can’t be my responsibility. Wellness – or we’ll-ness= “we will”-ness must be educed.
[2] About footnotes – in my essays, footnotes can used to tell a story within a story. Movie producers have been doing this for years with flashbacks and foreshadowing. Otherwise my story coming from ~many dimensions, might be even more challenging to read. (I know they can be already as I throw in Hebrew and astrologic terms willy-nilly. That is by design- to encourage groups of people to come together that haven’t before- or study both for themselves.)
[3] green – juvenile, undeveloped. Future growth. Also source of Money. A being with slumbering potential; with job to support collective of plant, but not earn for itself, yet can be directly stimulated (by sun and leaves’ sugars).
[4] Each summer season while leaves grow, so too do roots underground. Directionally polarized ‘looking’ for moisture and NPK nutrients.
Like us hu(e)-mans, also mitochondrial beings, sugars glucose especially, seem to be a plant tissues’ favorite fuel. (But have they tried using compost teas?)
In winter when sun is low in the sky, roots rest in earth’s unwarmed depths. For deciduous plants, there are no leaves to create sugars. As spring returns and sun’s rays elongate waxing cumulative warmth and sunshine, photosynthesis activity resumes. Green stalks jumpstarting sugar production to start the cycle again before the leave come. Then the Rose’s earth crown awakens. Again produces auxins.
Rootlets expand and organize where conditions meet their needs; their budding end drives a root’s inner homeostasis. Quiescent they are a reservoir of static energy waiting for crown’s signals. Unfed they whither as the charge wears out, electrons stop flowing; proton tunneling slows; tissues stop repairing. Molds set in and decay soon follows.
Charged roots are source of electrolytes, minerals, and water ready to support the organic waveform of new plant Meristem cells are totipotential- can ‘go either way’ to become either xylem or phloem- leaves or blossoms.
As the meristem is charged with fluids, light, and sugars growth can resume.
Auxin and like growth hormones initially sent by the crown, later by
meristem, are received by the bud facing out – driving it to unfurl… later to become rose. This is nature- no one has to tell it how.
[5] Weighted on ground as nicked~ coerced into having a dependent – or wounded with disability; under earth = addicted – on other focused.
[6] ART, I’ll define as ‘any created tangible object with its own version of history and lineage that continues to elicit an emotional response each time it is viewed by another, including the artist’.
ART is spelled with Aleph (our G-d/heart’s breath) Resh – (waterfall of ideas/thought/actions- which isn’t necessarily constant) and Tau (manifest density =measurable tangible result) What Tau manifests depends on our spirit’s balance of dedication (shin) and is a product of our corpus (Qoph).
Until now, ART isn’t /doesn’t always mean being uplifting or inspiring emotional response as the works of several contemporary artists come to mind. I sure hope that changes.
[7] Leaves in a season are ~stable commodity; the plant only has so many in a season. Thus plants have only so much machinery to make sugars.
[8] Internal – soil PH, moisture, drainage parameters; External – elemental and mammalian exposures (beyond it’s control; a plant can only respond to not effect.)
[9] We choose collectives that look or act like us, or try to, and they do.
[10] All fifty states including Washington offer volunteer-staffed courses and a plethora of resources to support amateur gardeners at the state university cooperative extensions. This valuable program enables one to pursue any number of different directions should one choose. It might be even better to introduce it in junior high school.
[11][11][11]
Note: I’m refer to ”Winter” as a analogy for times or periods in a life that seem bleak without warmth (fire =passion) or connection (water=emotions). A time when one feels isolated and unsupported.
Think of pruning cuts as times when our beliefs were, as it were, suddenly or chronically shattered – signifying necessary loses as we could no longer find or obtain sustenance in what once was a “primary relationship”; or an idealized version of it. Consider this a shedding of ‘bee leaf’ or belief- your ideas, even experiences about life interpreted according to your frame of reference at the time– and your collective who help or hinder. Over time we embellish it to become a story about picture on a wall. Revisit everything.
“Leaves” as essential parts of oneself that collect light and respire so as to become sugary fuel pumps spewing fresh air. Leaves do plant’s energetic heavy lifting. Leaves are our ~hands attached to arms. Like a leaf has many functions, our hands can hold many tools.
“Blooms” as what gifts each entity – what rose has to offer over a course of one’s life. How many bouquets will it produce? Let blooms be our status as a being- the part of us that shows (off) – visible and measurable talents and beauty.
“Hips” or fruit – as one’s legacy – what the bouquet looks like; our nourishment for a seed.
“Branches” – as arms who bore us as blossoms; could be our parents – and who bore them, our lineage’s teachers and healers. Could be shoots in a collective or family.
“Inside bud”- words and actions by our offshoots that disrupt and threaten the ‘crown’s’ integrity – by trapping and slowing (toxic) emotions (=watery – hormones – based on cultural container, emotions=energy in motion= hormones in the circulation) in a collective.
“Outside bud” – Source of growth and fulfillment into uncharted territory – which enhances a collective. Obtaining new photons and moisture from those outside/ away from us.
“Roots” as ~as unmeasurable bonds to our surroundings with which we receive moisture and salts (emotional regulation- which is the job of our energetic kidneys)–unseen because they’re buried and therefore hidden, and don’t have to be known to be effectively working.
Roots form necessary interconnections with various regions of substrata –supporting roses individual entity with earth’s directly supporting macro and micro-biome and crystalline collective. Roots have their own center – the bottom end of crown.
“crown” – the tangible and measurable aspects of a hu(e)-man’s personal collective.
the crown’s complexity is reflected in root structures multifaceted hierarchies of function – reflected in development of the above ground plant matter.
