We review insect control, disease control and fertilizing. Remember the whole point of pruning and growing roses is to have the best flowers and color you can. Winter pruning is only one part of it.

In our climate we recommend fertilizing at the same time you prune. Because roses can grow all winter long here by fertilizing you get a jump-start on spring. A full application of Masters Rose and Flower Food is in order.

In addition our rose hobbyist friends are telling us about the benefits of Alfalfa meal. It increases the number and vigor of Basil breaks. These are the new canes that start down in the plant that allows you to renew the rose. Basil breaks are one of the most important benefits of winter pruning..

Again our rose hobbyist friends are telling us about the benefits of Sul-Po-Mag. They are telling us stories of improved color on their roses..

We recommend that the alfalfa meal and Sul-Po-Mag be applied in the winter and again in mid to late spring and again in early summer. Apply the rose food in the winter and again every 6 weeks until October for the best bloom.

In addition I talk about the benefits of a 2” organic mulch. It keeps the roots cool and healthy ready to really work for you. It slowly improves the texture of the soil. It helps prevent weed invasion and holds moisture longer. Plenty of reasons to invest in mulching.

We emphasize the advantages of "Fruit Bush" training rather than standard commercial pruning. You have to realize that even the commercial growers are dramatically changing their practices. "Fruit Bush " training is only an extension of what growers are doing, to make it more suitable for home garden culture.

What we are talking about is using summer pruning techniques to keep fruit trees into bush-sized plants. This eliminates 90% of the wasted fruit on the ground. It eliminates the need for a 12 ft. ladder. It eliminates the need for large spray equipment. It also allows for more varieties of fruit bushes that allow for an extended ripening season. In addition it eliminates the chance of falling off a ladder and hurting yourself.

Would you like to prune 6 to 10 varieties in 30 – 45 minutes total rather than pruning one peach in about an hour and a half? Remember, for most people over 90% of the fruit really goes to waste.

The process starts with choosing an area that gets full sun. Shade from a fence doesn’t matter. It is sun at the foliage height that matters. If the area is 3 ft wide you can use a fruit hedge technique. That means planting from 18 inches to 4’ apart. Yes, I said 18”.

In a ten-foot long area you can fit 6-7 varieties

If you have an area that is 5x5 you can plant a multi planted fruit bush with up to 5 varieties. The advantage to this technique over multi-grafted trees is YOU get to choose the varieties.

The fruit bush depends on periodic SUMMER pruning. By shortening the new growth in the summer and by close planting it is easy to keep most varieties of fruit trees to only 7 or 8 ft tall.

This means everything is done off the ground or small stepladder. Pruning is easy, spr4aying is easy, thinning is easy and picking is easy.