DETAILS OF SUMMER GARDENING 161 



performed on all roses after their early summer bloom; 

 the second on roses, such as the dwarf polyanthus, 

 which throw up shoots bearing crowded heads of 

 bloom; the third on the many roses that flower only 

 once in the summer. These roses should not be pruned 

 at all except when they are first planted, or if they 

 seem not to be thriving; but all roses that are not 

 pruned at all, or are pruned but little, need to have 

 their older wood cut away at intervals. Those who 

 grow roses as flowering shrubs and not as mere flower- 

 producing machines will naturally prune them as little 

 as possible, since a rose that is cut hard back every 

 spring will never have time to grow into a shapely 

 plant, unless it is a very vigorous variety in a very 

 rich soil. Luckily, most roses will flower well enough 

 for garden purposes without very severe pruning. 

 But when roses are little pruned there is the more 

 need to trim and to thin them, and judicious trim- 

 ming and thinning, done not only in the spring or au- 

 tumn, but also after their first flush of bloom, is one 

 of the chief secrets of success with them and with 

 many other flowering shrubs. There is no routine 

 about such trimming and thinning. In each case the 

 gardener must exercise his common sense and be 

 guided by observation and experiment. It is always 

 safe to cut out old wood that seems to have lost its 

 vitality, or even younger shoots that seem exhausted 

 by an excess of blossom. But some roses throw up 

 new growth much quicker than others; and some 

 throw up shoots bearing only masses of bloom which, 



