Step 1:
Once your roses have all gone over and look like this, you know it’s time to deadhead. But why? When we deadhead our roses we speed up the reflowering process. If you leave the dead heads, it will take a long time for the roses to die back to the right part of the stem which alerts the rose to the fact it needs to grow new flowers.
So when you see these dead heads, it’s time for step 2!
Step 2:
Grab a pair of really good secateurs. This is important for many reasons. Good secateurs will cut your roses cleanly, leaving less room for rot or diseease on the stems. It’s also easier for you, if you have a few roses in the garden it can take a long time to deadhead every one, which will be made much easier with the right tools!
Here at the nursery we use Felcos, which we thoroughly recommend. Some pairs we’ve had for over 20 years.
Step 3:
Count your leaves!
Look down the stem from where the dead bloom is, the first few sets of leaves you see will have 3 leaves.
This is NOT where you should cut, keep looking down the stem until you find a set of 5.
Step 4:
So now you’ve found 5 leaves, you might be wondering what the big deal is. If you look at where the stem meets the set of leaves you’ll see a small ‘eye’. This is where the rose will grow and flower from.
When you cut just above this eye you alert the rose that it needs to get growing and it will send its energy to the eye.
Step 5:
Make a clean diagonal cut on the stem just above the set of 5 leaves. When you cut the stem diagonally it is less likely to become brown and rotten after it rains. And that’s all!
You just need to repeat this with each of your roses, throw in some rose feed and water plentifully. This will all help the rose to get enough energy to burst into flower again soon.
Clusters:
With roses like shrubs or floribundas, you’ll notice that they flower in more of a cluster formation. You should cut off the dead heads in the cluster and wait for the whole thing to go over. When it has, repeat the mentioned steps as with any other rose.
With large roses like Climber and Ramblers you don’t have to be so precise. Just take off the dead heads when the rose has finished blooming and wait for the next flush.
So that's all there is too it, remember that it's better to try and make a mistake then just leave your rose to reflower, you're always going to speed up the process and encourage new growth! Sign up to our newsletter to get more tips about how to care for your roses throughout the year.