WHEN AND HOW TO PRUNE 



145 



Helen Keller (H.P.), Le Havre (II. P.), Madame Constant Soupert 

 (T.), Mildred Grant (H.T.), Mrs W. J. Grant (H.T.), Reynolds 

 Hole (H.P.), and Victor Hugo (H.P.). 



CLIMBERS. One of the most embarrassing problems that con- 

 front the amateur rose-grower is that of the pruning of climbers. 

 The questions that present them- 

 selves for solution generally take 

 the following form : " How and 

 when shall I prune climbing roses ? 

 Shall I cut a newly-planted climber 

 down to the base, or shall I allow 

 it to grow in its own way for a year, 

 and then prune it ? " My answers 

 must be general. If the tree were 

 planted as it should be in the 

 autumn, it is a good plan to cut it 

 down to within a foot or eighteen 

 inches of the base. This will tend 

 to strengthen the roots, and will 

 promote the production of vigorous 

 shoots in the succeeding summer. 

 Comparatively few, if any, blooms 

 need be expected in the summer 

 after planting, since most climbers 

 produce their flowers on wood that 

 is a year old. In the following 

 early autumn the old wood should 

 be cut down to the base, and the 

 new shoots produced during the 

 summer be allowed to remain, save for a slight pruning at the 

 extremities. 



With regard to the pruning of climbers in spring, much depends 

 on their treatment in the previous autumn. If the old wood was 

 cut out all that remains to be done is the removal of any dead 

 wood at the extremities of the branches, and the clipping off of 

 useless small branches which if allowed to remain would prevent 



Diagram 11. 



PRUNING A CLIMBING 

 ROSE. 



Shorten the tops of last year's 

 wood as at A A A, and cut down to 

 the base old wood as at B B. 



