Annual rose pruning commences

Published on 15 July 2019

There are over a thousand roses maintained in the Benalla Botanical Gardens with 250 varieties of Modern garden roses - Hybrid Tea,  Floribunda, Climbing, David Austin, and Old garden roses such as Gallica, Centifolia, Bourban and Rugosa.

The Benalla Botanical Gardens roses cover an area of  2,342m2 or 0.57acres and are best enjoyed throughout out the warmer months. 

Winter is the time to prune roses. The Benalla Council's horticulture staff will start on this big job on Tuesday 16 July. Members of the public are welcome to meet with staff onsite between 8am and 3pm Tuesday to Friday to get some cuttings for propagation or for some gardening advice.

Roses can be grown from seed or by cuttings. Growing from seed can be challenging as seeds need to go through a period of cold moist storage called 'stratification' before they will sprout.

The easiest way to propagate roses is by cuttings. Simply cut a rose stem 30cm in length, carefully remove leaves, re-cut the bottom of cane just below a node (the swelling on the stem, where the leaves emerge), dip end into rooting hormone if available,  place at least 1/3 of stem into a pot full of potting mix, then water well.