Secrets Of Rose Tree Care Tiger Tip
The Secrets Of Rose Tree Care
Whether you’re creating an elegant Victorian-style formal garden or just want an unusual addition to your casual rose garden, a rose tree makes an eye-catching feature. While rose tree care does take a fair amount of work, when you know how to go about it, you can get excellent results without much of a struggle. What exactly is a rose tree?
In order to understand why rose trees require special care, it helps to know how these unusual roses are formed. No rose naturally grows in a tree shape. Instead, the tree-like form is created by grafting roses together. That is, several roses are bound together until they grow into one. One graft is made at the top of the cane or trunk and another near the base.
Special concerns in rose tree care
Because the rose has been “re-engineered” and trained to grow in this unnatural manner, it requires more upkeep than shrub and climbing roses. The most obvious issue is that the single slender central cane needs to be staked to be able to support the heavy load of branches and blooms on top. Since the cane has no leaves or branches to protect it, it’s especially susceptible to sun scald and frost burn. One trick to prevent scalding this is to tie the support stake onto the southern side of the cane to block the day’s hottest sunlight. For protection from frost and cold, the cane should be well wrapped during winter.
Pruning
When it comes to rose tree care, pruning is important for more than just keeping that attractive rounded or weeping growth pattern. Correct pruning is critical because the branches need to trimmed in such a way that their weight is evenly distributed over the central cane to prevent the branches or even the cane from breaking. The simplest way to make sure you get it right is to prune every autumn in order to keep the tree in the same shape it was when you bought it.
Rose tree care requires more time and patience than care of shrub and climbing roses, but rose trees lend your garden an up-scale look that few other plants can match. Once you understand the unique needs of these roses, you’ll find caring for them isn’t nearly as complicated as it may seem.