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Pruning roses - the Sissinghurst method

Pruning roses the Sissinghurst way helps create those wonderful fountains of
roses you see in summer gardens - delicious-smelling, out-of-control geysers of
flowers that effuse all over the garden. Pruning roses like this means you don't
get those boring little twiggy bushes, all leg and no body, surrounded by bare
ground.
The great Sissinghurst trick to pruning roses is meticulous work behind the
scenes earlier in the year, when precision horticulture guarantees that wonderful
romantic effect.
The Sissinghurst rose pruning technique originated at Cliveden with the Astors'
head gardener Jack Vass, who moved to Sissinghurst in 1939.
Vita Sackville-West loved her roses, particularly the dark, rich Gallicas such as
'Charles de Mills', 'Tuscany Superb' and 'Cardinal de Richelieu', but it was Jack
Vass who started to grow them in this exceptional way, and roses have been
pruned and trained like this at Sissinghurst ever since. Other National Trust
properties send their gardeners here to learn this ingenious technique.
The rose pruning philosophy can be summed up as "treat them mean, keep them
keen". If you put every stem of a rose plant under pressure, bending and
stressing it, the rose will flower more prolifically. The plant's biochemistry tells the
bush it's on the way out and so needs to make as many flowers as possible.
THE SISSINGHURST ROSE PRUNING TECHNIQUE
Climbers and ramblers
The rose pruning season at Sissinghurst starts in November with the climbers
and ramblers that cover almost every one of the terracotta brick walls.
First, the gardeners cut off most of that year's growth. This keeps the framework
of the rose clear and prevents the plant from becoming too woody.
Next, large woody stems are taken out - almost to the base - to encourage new
shoots. These will flower the following year.
The remaining branches are re-attached to the wall, stem by stem, starting from
the middle of the plant, working outwards, with the pruned tip of each branch
bent down and attached to the one below.
Climbers such as 'Paul's Lemon Pillar' are a bit more reluctant than ramblers like
'Albertine' and the famous Rosa mulliganii on the frame in the centre of the White
Garden, which are very bendy and easy to train.
Shrub roses
Once the wall roses are done, it's the turn of the border shrubs. They should be
pruned before they come into leaf to prevent leaf buds and shoots from being

damaged as their stems are manipulated. Depending on their habit, shrub roses
are trained in one of three ways.
The tall, rangy bushes with stiffer branches (such as 'Charles de Mills', 'Ispahan',
'Gloire de France', 'Cardinal de Richelieu' and 'Camayeux') are twirled up a frame
of four chestnut or hazel poles. Every pruned tip is bent and attached to a length
below.
The big leggy shrubs, which put out great, pliable, triffid arms that are easy to tie
down and train, are bent on to hazel hoops arranged around the skirts of the
plant. Roses with this lax habit include 'Constance Spry', 'Fantin-Latour',
'Zphirine Drouhin', 'Madame Isaac Pereire', 'Coupe d'Hb', 'Henri Martin' and
'Souvenir du Dr Jamain'.
All the old and diseased wood is removed and then, stem by stem, last year's
wood is bent over and tied onto the hazel hoop. You start at the outside of the
plant and tie that in first and then move towards the middle, using the plant's own
branches to build up the web and - in the case of 'Constance Spry' and 'Henri
Martin' - create a fantastic height, one layer domed and attached to the one
below. Without any sign of a flower, this looks magnificent as soon as it's
complete, and in a couple of months, each stem, curved almost to ground level,
will flower abundantly.
That leaves just the contained, well behaved, less prolific varieties ('Petite de
Hollande', 'Madame Knorr', 'Chapeau de Napolon', ( syn. Rosa x centifolia
'Cristata') and those that produce branches too stiff to bend ('Felicia' and the
newish David Austin rose, 'William Shakespeare 2000'). These are pruned hard,
then each bush is attached to a single stake, cut to about the height of the
pruned bush and attached by twine. Without the stake, even these will topple
under the weight of their summer growth.
For those who live in the North, where some roses are yet to leaf, you could get
bending now. If your roses are already too advanced for this year, come and see
how it's all done at Sissinghurst.
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I went to Sissinghurst last week, one-time home of Vita SackvilleWest, gardener, writer, Virginia Woolfs lover the norm. I actually
went to see the vegetable garden but it was closed. Im assuming
theres not much to see yet, like in my own garden. So I contented
myself with looking at the beautifully trained roses.

Theyre everywhere. Short little stubby ones, tall tower-like ones. And
all trained in this beautiful fluffy clouds formation. Its very striking.

They even have them climbing the walls in the same pattern. I have
two climbing roses here at mtp. One is doing very well next to my
Apple tree and the other is well, doing not so good in a pot on my
deck. Im determined to train them a la Sissinghurst. Ive missed the
boat this year since the best time to prune them is November. But I
found a handy guide written by Sarah Raven on this very technique
that Ill be using in Autumn.
Visiting Gardens in Winter Will Help You to Learn About Design
0Written by Lisa Cox on 30th Nov 2010 in Design Tips, Inspiration
Now that the autumn leaves have almost gone, and the snow has arrived
somewhat early, I dont feel quite so bad talking about the winter, which now feels
very much upon us!
You can learn a huge amount about the plants in your garden during winter
because most have been stripped back to their bare bones. When the leaves
have gone from most trees and shrubs you are really able to appreciate their true
habit and shape. In addition the evergreen specimens, which have been holding
the garden together throughout the summer months, really stand out amongst
the crowd, highlighting areas in the garden that might benefit from a bit more allround interest. These evergreen plants are even more important if youre a tidy
gardener as, once the perennials have been cut back and the leaves swept
away, the structure of the garden is truly exposed.
If you visit the gardens that you love to see in the Summer at other times of the
year youll also be able to see how the hard landscaping elements work within
the space. Often in summer, when the plants are spilling over pathways and
terraces, it is not possible to see the bare bones of the design. In Winter the
hard landscaping elements are more exposed and, as mentioned above, the
structural planting becomes more obvious.
Winter time also provides an opportunity to see how things are pruned and
trained. Wisley is of course a brilliant place to go, theres so much to see even

when the herbaceous border is nothing but brown earth plus you have the added
bonus of being able to ask some very knowledgeable staff if you have any
specific questions. In particular, the fruit area really shows off their pruning and
training techniques.
Although the gardens are closed to the public between November and March,
Sissinghurst is really brilliant if you want to see how to train roses so that they
have shape and form even when they are no longer in leaf. The following
pictures were taken in very early Spring:

As you can see, the branches of this shrub rose have been arched and tied to
form a structured framework from which the new shoots will emerge in late
Spring. Similarly, the young stems of this climbing rose have been arched and
tied to form a framework that, when in leaf, will provide a more uniformed cover
of the wall throughout the summer months.

Wherever you go, take your camera with you as this will really help to piece the
jigsaw together when you get home and if you have pictures of the same gardens
during the other seasons then youll really have something to work with!

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