Well the deer have eaten so much of my rose bushes they are clinging to life. There are a bunch of dead branches as well as canes. I am afraid if I cut them back as far as they need to be they won't make it through the winter. On the other hand if they are dead it won't do any good to leave them. Is there any salvaging to be done? I would ask the rose group but there seems to be no one around there anymore. Thanks for any ideas MJ
The roses may or may not come back.
Isn't the real issue the deer?
After having struggled with every thing under the sun to repel deer, I can tell you what works. Fences.
If fences aren't in the cards, forget the roses.
I have en electric fence for my vegetable garden but can't bring myself to put one out for the rose bed. I DID have great success this year with a deer repelant spray product that worked great. It was having to be out of town and rain that caused the demise. They were beautiful for most of the summer.
Yep, rain is the primary weakness on repellents. They worked pretty well for me for a while. Then the deer seemed to figure it out. Eat the plants while it's raining or soon afterward.
It's so demoralizing to have your hard work destroyed.
My fence is working well. During Irene a neighbors tree crashed through his fence so my yard is partially open right now. Hoping the deer don't figure it out before the fence is repaired.
Roses benefit from severe pruning prior to freezing weather. If you don't want your plants to be deer salad: FENCE!
Okay, you have deer, but don't tell me you have no rabbits... electric fences do nothing to repel rabbits, and eventually deer learn to hop over.
During winter when deer are hungry they will pay no attention to any schtinkin' repellant. The only method for keeping deer out is a real fence... and occasionally they will ram into a fence and knock it over. Fence that rose garden, real fence.
Welcome to gardening :)
Save your money and do not bother buying a fancy fence or an arsenal of chemicals to keep those roses nice and beautiful. Just get rid of the roses and you will save money and most important of all you will not feel depressed when something bad happens to your roses.
Grow Hydrangeas and not Roses!
Sorry I am with Madonna, not a fan of Hydrangeas
Thanks everyone but I will just keep plugging along. I guess I wanted to know how far back I should prune them
Bad news. Deer eat Hydrangea.
Oh the suspense :)
But humans can eat deer. I keep a few apple trees on the outer edge of my property which I find keeps them from venturing and finding the main garden.
I trim what few roses I have left about one foot above the ground and just above a union.
I like Madonna's singing. However, I like hydrangeas much better than roses :)
Those here knows my views on roses... :)
what kind of roses?
if there is a graft union is the damage all the way back to the graft?
i'd only trim off the stuff that is obviously dead and let it go until spring, then you can tell what is alive and growing and shape the plant further accordingly.
songbird
snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net wrote: ...
here we have combination of 7ft fences around the veggie gardens and the hunters that thin the herds that roam around.
i would fence the whole yard if it was set up better for it.
6ft fence was not high enough.songbird
The question is when to prune them. In my area (mild winter), they are best pruned around New Year. Where my daughter lives (central prairies of Canada), they should be pruned just as new growth buds start to swell.
See my , which is more about the philosophy of rose pruning than a how-to guide.
Technically, I agree.
But in practice, it works.
I've read that most deer can clear 10 feet.
A mother deer with doe in tow is restricted to the height the doe can clear.
Note that most of the area is heavily planted and there are lots of overhead branches. The deer can't get near to the fence and see a clear spot to land on the other side.
The fence has been up for 2 full seasons.
I think you meant a mother deer with 'fawn' in tow... although wherever there's a mother deer with fawns there is usually an aunt or two nearby. I have herds of deer on my property, I can see about twenty out there right now... I have 5' fences around my vegetable garden and all my flower beds, during the ten years I've been here not once has a deer jumped my fences... but they don't keep rabbits, birds, moles, and several other critters out. To clear a 5' fence they need a running start. Deer ain't so stupid as to jump into a small fenced area that they can't get a running start to jump out, so fencing an entire large property makes no sense unless the fence is like ten feet high. It makes much more sense to fence just the small areas. Also deer won't typically try to get to a fenced area if they can forage elsewhere... if you live where it snows don't mow short before winter sets in, deer will dig down to eat grass but they won't touch the roots. Also it's a good idea to bring in a couple three large round bales of hay, that will keep the deer (and other critters) going until spring. In other words if you provide an easily accessable source of food deer generally won't bother your plants. I will never understand people who want to live in the country but hate the critters... they shoulda stayed in their paved cities.
i must try this one time
Oops. Thanks.
Didn't know about them wanting a running start. Guess I'm okay with 6 ft. Doing some searches I'm finding people claim
8 ft is a max. I remember 10 from somewhere...Unless you're trying to breed for hunting, I think feeding wild animals is a mistake. For sure, it won't protect your plants unless you plan to feed more and more of them each year.
I'm in the suburbs. A few deer I have no problem with. Dozens within a few blocks is too many.
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