We did rose pruning again in the Bowles Lyon Garden see Rose pruning masterclasses from session 1 and session 2.
Last year there was dispute between the Formal team about how to prune the roses, Kerry did it in this controversial way of treating them in blocks and not prioritising taking out dead and crossing over in the middle of individual roses too much. This definitely seem to work for this intended results of this part of the garden - as the roses seem to flower and look good in blocks, with the foliage being more bushy. David Austen as advocated this as a well of treating them too, but I am told that this method cannot be prolonged for many years and every few years the roses must be approached with the more traditional way of pruning because it will exhaust and not renew the roses.
I also noticed that the Rosa dupontii that I had pruned last year as long wands did not work so well, it had too much bare legs and not too much hiding them - it probably should have been shortened and left structurally less sparse with more side branches so that it would have been bushier near the bottom.
 |
| Photo 1: Rose pruning 2016. |