FERTILIZING & MERIT SYSTEMIC TREATMENTS: Corky’s can fertilize your roses while we are on the premises performing your regular scheduled pest control services. Three applications per year are recommended. Each must be performed at least 6 weeks apart (generally when petals fall) until late August. We can add Merit systemic insecticide to our special mixture during the first application in early spring.
ROSE CARE: For most hybrid floribunda and tea roses, prune them in late December to force them into a dormant stage. Wait until they start to leaf out, usually early March, to begin fertilizing them. Corky’s uses a fertilizer mixture which includes additional phosphorous. We also add Merit, our systemic insecticide. This is the only insect treatment you need to use on them all year.
The Merit is mixed with the entire fertilizer blend and water, and the whole mixture is slowly poured in a drench method on each bush to make sure that it soaks in. The fertilizer has to go down to all the roots.
Fertilize each time the blooms fall, using the same fertilizer mix without the Merit, to give the plant plenty of food to bloom again. The last fertilizing is in September. They must go dormant to stay healthy. Again, prune them at Christmas to force them to dormancy—see the instructions below.
PRUNING: Prune your roses to force them to rest for the winter months! Unpruned roses will grow into an unsightly tangle of thorny stems and will produce weaker and smaller blooms. The pruning of floribunda and tea roses are very similar. Pruning is actually pretty easy, just cut off about ¾ of its size or down to about fifteen inches off the ground. This will open the plant so you can see what you are doing. Cut out any branches that are cutting through the middle of the plant. The idea is to make a bowl out of the center. You want it as open as possible when spring growth begins so air circulation and the sun can saturate the plant. Cut out any dead wood or weak branches that you find. Then look for the suckers. These will be branches growing out of the ground next to the plant or just above the ground growing out of the old wood and usually growing upward. These suckers will not produce blooms and will just steal food from the plant. You should only have 4 to 7 canes left. Four or five canes are best. Look at all the cuts for browning or discoloration. When you find it keep cutting lower to the next outward facing bud until you find clear cane.
Now look for outward facing buds. Cut about ½” to ¾” of an inch above the outward facing bud slanting your shears upward about 30 degrees so the cut when finished will face the inside of the plant. This will force the plant to spread outward in the spring keeping good air circulation for as long as possible. It’s easy to recognize a bud. It’s a little slit in the bark of the cane where a branch will obviously grow.
When you finish pruning you should not have any leaves left on the bush. It’s almost impossible to foul up this pruning job. Tea roses can be cut down to about twelve inches tall each year. If a bush is not producing enough blooms, replace it with a new variety the following year. Always get the disease resistant variety. Just remember disease resistant does not mean disease free. Rose pruning should be finished by January first.
