Roses could die this spring if ‘easy’ gardening job is not done as soon as possible

Roses are a beautiful flower which make gardens look stunning, but gardeners need to keep an eye on them otherwise they can develop suckers. 

Suckers are rogue stems which emerge from the base of the plant and can often occur if the rose roots have been damaged, but suckers need to be dealt with as soon as possible as they grow quickly and overtake the plant.  

If left unchecked, suckers will rob a rose bush of nutrients, sunlight and water which will greatly weaken it, prevent the roses from flowering and eventually kill it completely. 

Kimberley, a master gardener with over 30 years of experience and founder of Rose Geek has shared that the best way to remove the sucker so it does not grow back is to grab it and pull it at an angle so it breaks off. 

She said: “You can certainly just cut it off to see if that will get rid of the sucker, but in the reading that I have been doing it tends to be more violent as you need to rip it off.” 

READ MORE: Roses will never flower again if gardeners ignore the signs of summer disease

Kimberley also shared that the most important step to dealing with suckers is to know what they look like so you can “catch it in time [and] save the rose.” 

Suckers are often paler and taller than the rest of a rose bush and if it flowers, the blooms will look different from the rose bush.  

Kimberley said: “You’re going to be looking for that colour change, that’s a telltale sign, and you’re also going to look for a growth that is coming out of the cane.

“You’re also going to be looking for a very strong vigorous growth which all of a sudden out of nowhere is shooting up to the sky.” 

To prevent suckers in the future, make sure to regularly prune roses when needed but the most important gardening job is to check on roses regularly, as suckers are more likely to appear during the flower growing season in spring.