Unknown rose pruning

[Jimny14]

So this rose was found at our house buried under a pyracantha. It was is a bit of a sorry state and I don't know whether it started as a bush and grew up to search out light after getting buried by the pyracantha or if it was a standard to start with.

I moved it in to this pot and kept an eye on it. First season it didn't do much (probably due to being moved), year 2 we had a couple of flowers last year we had a lovely show and two rounds of blooms. These photos are this year. I have noticed that the new shoots from the ground level have the same flowers as the top growth.

I am unsure of what to do now, the rose seems to be quite happy so I'm unsure how to prune, should I try to get it to a decent standard shape, or allow it to shoot from the base and try to build it back to a bush? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[Scarlet]

How tall is it? It looks a bit short for a standard.

[nickdub]

I'd say it started out life as a bush type - how you want it to grow now of course is largely a matter of taste.

[bobbin]

Does sound like it's a bush Rose. If it rewarded you with a lovely show last year why not leave it and treat as a bush if you're happy for it to simply grow and look lovely. For pruning just Google " pruning bush roses"
There's heaps of info out there. Don't forget to give it a feed though when appropriate.i give roses an Epsom salts feed now and again and boy does it perk them up. ( I found the recent torrential. rain has depleted the goodness in my pot soil as it's washed lots of nutrients out. ) It looks lovely. I bet its perfumed too. What a nice plant to find under other stuff. I can't grow roses in pots successfully so you're certainly. doing something right!!

[bobbin]

Ps. I'm not implying I know a lot about roses Jimmy 14 but do you think a bit more compost
would be appropriate. It's very bare on top. It looks very top heavy in that pot. Is it pot bound?

[bobbin]

Oops meant to put Jimny. Drop in txt changed it sorry.

[Scarlet]

I know what I would do but it would be risky! I would cutback that thick standard stem to encourage new growth from the bottom.

[Jimny14]

Hi guys, thanks for the thoughts, I'm still undecided about what to do, think I might leave him be for a bit and see how it gets on. May do some pruning to try and encourage more bottom shoots and return to a bush. Don't think I'm brave enough to chop all the main stem off just yet.
PS bobbin think you're right about needing more compost, I'll probably lift it at some point, check it's not pot bound and either pot up or just add new compost depending on what I find.
PPS yes it's scented.

[nickdub]

One thought - if you do want to encourage more low down shoots without taking out the main stem, you could bend it down and tie it in place almost horizontal with some string weighed down by the pot. It would look funny for a bit, but assuming you got the growth you wanted you could correct that later on.

[Scarlet]

I think that stem is too thick for bending.
I bend my shrubs to encourage lateral growth but I think that stem is too far gone.

Roses are very hardy and respond well to a good prune. It would give it a new lease if life

A standard usually has a very smooth trunk - no thorns. I can't really tell from the pic but it doesn't look thornless to me.

A bit of encouragement for you here to do the right thing


https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernirelan.../john119.shtml


This is just one stem of a shrub rose - it's trained over a wall to encourage side shoots. It's amazing how many flowers you can get along one stem.

[Jimny14]

Thanks again, scarlet your link doesn't seem to be working

[Scarlet]

Have another try now. I often use the David Austin website for guidance on pruning. Worth a read.

https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/a...ish-shrub-rose

[Jimny14]

Cheers scarlet, seems v drastic cutting such a big stem out, hope it works!