QuestionMy roses bushes & I live in NC - bushes are at least 3 years old and have done well. This season, there is a lot of dead which I have trimmed and only one stalk that is green. Anything I can do? I refuse to give up. Used root stimulus, any other suggestions?
AnswerThe way to stimulate a rose into making more canes when you only have one cane left, is to prune back hard the one remaining right back to about 4 inches. This will force more canes to come from the base. If you leave the one cane, the roots will concentrate on that cane only. You may get more basal canes but usually you end up with one thick cane. Pruning it back is a standard procedure to activate more canes from the base.
