Rugosa Pruning Too late?

My rugosa is resting from a prolific spring bloom and I was wondering if it is okay to prune back some new growth or do I need to wait for fall. The shrub is really out of shape and the new growth is eclipsing the under-planted day lilies and daisies. Can anyone advise me on this. My thinking is that by pruning or lightly cutting it back, it could devote more energy into repeat blooming. Some advice would be helpful.

Hi Lula, your Rugosa Rose has flowered it's socks off and is really trying to recover from that, the best thing to do is to cut out all the OLD wood above the new shoots, you will see the difference, the new shoots will be that nice new green leaves and the wood will be paler, but the OLD wood/stems, will be dark green leaves and the stems will be almost blackish, so cut the old wood and let the new shoots grow and they may give you a second flush of blooms, at the end of the season, cut all the shoots down to about 8 inches above the soil, give a feed and it will next spring, throw up lots of new shoots from the old, these are the old wild roses or some call them rambling roses and are usually highly perfumed, if you want to enjoy the rose hips they get after flowering, the birds feed on these, dont prune the shrub till spring when you will see all new shoots come through, to get it into shape though, I would prune it this year and feed it after pruneing, and again in spring so it builds up a lot of energy to flower well for next year. Please ware heavy gloves as these Roses will shread your skin like a carrot grater. Hope this helps, I think I answered this on someone elses thread, WeeNel

Any flowering plant is best pruned after it blooms. That would be your rose. It is only going to get bigger as time passes, you might want to consider moving the plants that it is overgrowing now and taking a few more to allow for future growth of the rose. They will get big won't they? We don't have that rose here, but you might want to check PlantPiles and see what others have experienced.

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lula61, I have always pruned my large masses of Rosa rugosa in the spring, like WeeNel said, to feed the birds, but I have never had a problem with trimming back unwanted growth ( like yours that is blocking other plants) at any time.

I whacked some growth back today that seemed a bit unruly and was out growing the rest of the group. I do cut out any old dead canes in the spring and trim ours back to 2 1/2 to 4 feet for one of the masses that has a gentle slope and and to 2 feet for another area which I do a flat top cut.

Most rugosa roses are tough old broads that like having a good trim whenever it is needed. Our original, much smaller, clumps were planted in 1983, so they have survived my casual and cavalier attitude about them for years and they bloom their hearts out. I do love them. We use some granular fertilizer for them in the spring and some more late in the summer. We have a long season with the first big show and then sporadic blooms till the fall.

Plus they are easy to propagate. Any new green growth can be lifted with a trowel and cut off from the mother plant after leaving about 6 inches of the underground surface root attached to the new growth. Now just lay the separated part in a shallow trench that is a few inches deep and cover with soil leaving only the green growth exposed where you want the new growth. It will grow, if watered. I have added some different hybrid rugosa this year to my garden including Roseraie de l'hay, Fimbriata, Hansa, Kordes Robusta, and David Thompson. Rugosa's rule! Patti

Lula 61 - I had a Rugosa in Colorado for years, I cut it down after the first snow to about 6-8 inches and by spring it was always bigger than ever. However! I would not advise planting anything under it. I throws new shoots out everywhere it can - and the thorns will tear up your daylillies. I agree with Nel - wear very heavy gloves - the thorns can be tiny and will get under your skin and be very painful. As a matter of fact - we kept it in a huge barrel right in front of a lower window - certainly no one with any skin would do any peeping in that area - at least not twice!!!!!