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HEAVY OR LIGHT PRUNING

Light pruning has been practised in temperate climates in many parts of the world for many years and is gaining favour. It, like high planting, is practicable only in warm climates. In cold climates the youngish growth that we retain would be killed by cold; consequently there is need for relatively hard pruning there. It is probably better under adverse conditions of cold climates to leave the pruning until after the worst of the winter is over and then to cut the branches below their damaged parts. This is preferable to pruning all roses to a height of just a few inches or right back to old wood. In Aus­tralia it is from young wood, especially watershoots, that we get our best blooms. Light pruning gives bigger plants with more protection from sun by foliage and more blooms with apparently no deterioration in quality. Again, of course, Perne-tianas with their poor constitutions will be killed by even moderately hard pruning. It is only in the very coldest parts of Australia and New Zealand that light (or high) pruning exposes a plant to damage from cold.

Each year the plants should become a little bigger. Strong basal shoots will be sent out from the union; they should reach a height of several feet in most varieties.

It used to be said that hard pruning of roses promoted stronger growth and produced better blooms. The evidence is all against this theory. The roots of a plant work to supply demands made by the top of the plant. The less the top, the less nourishment is demanded, and the greater the top, the greater the demand. Hard pruning tends to make the roots sluggish. Then the plant becomes less vigorous and less re­sistant to diseases. The life of the plant is considerably shortened. Lightly pruned plants not only produce equally good blooms, but give a greater number of them, and longer stems as well. Bushes five to six feet high are often seen crowned with large blooms of perfect form. With hard-pruned plants one is hesitant about cutting any blooms with long stems. There are very few such growths, and the cutting must cause a big shock to the plant. With large, lightly pruned plants no such harm is done.

Any pruning almost certainly reduces the number of flowers produced, but with light pruning this reduction is not very great, and we are more than compensated by the improvement in quality, and the smaller proportion of blooms damaged by contact with other branches. This improvement is by no means inversely proportional to the pruning. The branches contain large quantities of stored plant foods, especi­ally carbohydrates, and so pruning actually robs a plant of part of its reserves.

Bear in mind the variety being pruned each time. Some respond best to very light pruning, some to moderately light pruning, and some to slightly harder pruning. Into the first of these three groups fall the Pernetianas, part Pernetianas, and the Tea roses-queer grouping, but the reasons for their inclusion in the one group are totally different. The Per­netianas are soft-wooded and will very often die if cut hard. The Teas have thin, hard, wiry growth; they are the healthiest and most tolerant of abuse of all roses. Their blooms are usually smaller than those of other types, and they do best if allowed to develop into big dense bushes. Into the second group fall most modern roses, while in the last category are the few remaining Hybrid Perpetuals, with the exception of Frau Karl Druschki, which strangely resembles the Pernetianas in its resentment of "a real good pruning".

In temperate climates, pruning is an all-the-year-round pro­cess. The more continuous the blooming of a plant, the more continuous is the pruning. This continuity will vary with the climate as well as the rose variety. An ever-blooming shrub type, such as Lorraine Lee or Papa Gontier, needs only its faded flowers and seed-pods removed with a few inches of stem to ensure good flowers throughout the year. Once seed-pods are allowed to form, the whole plant tends to slower growth and decreased bloom production.