Pruning
Old Garden Roses:
The David Stone Method
By Mary Beth Martin
David Stone, the head gardener at Mottisfont Abbey in Great Britain since 1978, visited Ashdown Roses September 22-23, 2006 and demonstrated his method of pruning old garden roses.
His aim is to create bushes that retain their natural grace and are self-supporting, with a large quantity of quality blooms.
Stone believes there is no wrong time to prune roses. “Do it when needed,” he said. He does the major pruning of once-blooming varieties in early March. Generally, he starts by removing one-third of the old wood, then cutting back long new canes, clearing out clutter and removing the oldest canes. When he’s finished, the bush is about one-third of its original size.
His goal is to create a framework of sturdy canes which will support the lanky new growth and new canes. After spring bloom is finished, he removes spent blooms and lightly shapes the bushes. As the season progresses, he continues to shape the bush so that it has an attractive natural form.
A DVD of the David Stone pruning workshop plus photos of Mottisfont rose gardens is available from Ashdown Roses.
Photo by Mary Beth Martin.
Stone began his demonstration by crawling into an overgrown hybrid musk rose (above). First he removed old, non-productive canes.
Next he removed twigs and canes cluttering the center of the bush.
Finally, he trims and shapes the canes, leaving the bush about one-third of its original size.