{"id":2672,"date":"2016-11-25T18:07:08","date_gmt":"2016-11-25T18:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=2672"},"modified":"2016-11-25T18:13:56","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T18:13:56","slug":"pruning-roses-and-trees-shrubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=2672","title":{"rendered":"Pruning Roses (and Trees & Shrubs)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It will soon be time for dormant pruning of your trees and shrubs. Pearl Harbor Day (December 7th<\/sup>), which reminds us first of when our gallant sailors and soldiers were attacked in Hawaii, also \u201ctriggers\u201d rose pruning season. This day might be early for some, but noted local rose grower Joe Ghio has for years started his pruning on that date. He cultivates a lot of roses, so pruning is not a one-day event, as it might be for your collection. Still, this day reminds us to start pruning our roses, or at least to start thinking about this annual task.<\/p>\n

I have written about pruning roses before<\/a>, and do not want to repeat the guidelines for gardeners who are already experienced pruners. Instead of detailing the process, I will offer some broad suggestions.<\/p>\n

First, if you are unsure of your pruning skills, visit the website of the American Rose Society<\/a> for a refresher. Scroll down to \u201cPruning Roses\u201d to find eight articles by experts on the subject. You will also see numerous articles on all aspects of the cultivation of roses.<\/p>\n

Second, let your roses teach you how to prune. After you have absorbed some basic ideas from the ARS, a book, or some other source, make mental or written notes of how you prune your roses, then monitor their responses over the next growing season. You might even tie ribbons on selected branches to remind yourself of what you did, and to help in watching the plant\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n

Third, if you learn best from demonstrations, plan to attend one of the Monterey Bay Rose Society<\/a>\u2019s free rose pruning classes in January. The Society\u2019s 2017 schedule includes classes at the Alladin Nursery (Watsonville), San Lorenzo Garden Center (Santa Cruz), and the Society\u2019s Display Rose Garden in the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds (Watsonville). In addition, Joe Ghio might present his popular \u201cAnyone Can Prune a Rose\u201d workshop during the Society\u2019s January meeting in Aptos. For information on times, dates and locations, visit the Society\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McShane\u2019s Nursery (Salinas) also provides free workshops on rose and fruit tree pruning. Visit the Nursery\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Fruit tree pruning also can be challenging for backyard gardeners. The dormant pruning season for fruit trees begins when leaves fall and before buds swell, roughly January through March. I recently attended a workshop on pruning fruit trees, conducted by a long-time friend, Peter Quintanilla, who is a UC Master Gardener, an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist, and a teacher of Arboriculture and Landscape Pruning at Cabrillo College. Peter spoke at a recent meeting of the Monterey Bay Iris Society (the members of the MBIS are interested in more than irises!).<\/p>\n

I will write more on this subject as we near the pruning season, but now is a good time for gardeners to get \u201cup to speed\u201d on this subject. Find good information in your local public library or bookshop\u00a0or on the Internet. For information on selected trees or shrubs (apple trees for example) try a Google search for \u201cpruning apple trees\u201d to find both article and YouTube demonstrations.<\/p>\n

Seasonal pruning of roses and fruit trees will optimize their appearance, health, and productivity. This task, when done in a capable and timely manner, also can be a satisfying exercise for the gardener. If you are unsure of your pruning knowledge, make a New Year\u2019s resolution to master at least the basic techniques. And be sure to let Nature teach you about pruning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It will soon be time for dormant pruning of your trees and shrubs. Pearl Harbor Day (December 7th), which reminds us first of when our gallant sailors and soldiers were attacked in Hawaii, also \u201ctriggers\u201d rose pruning season. This day … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[155,159],"tags":[45,21,5],"class_list":["post-2672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays-2016","category-fall","tag-fruit-trees","tag-pruning","tag-roses"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2WCVL-H6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2678,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions\/2678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}