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Life - Your Home

Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009

Rose care

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BE PREPARED

When she enters the garden during pruning time, longtime consulting rosarian Muriel Humenick is ready for action. She packs a tool kit into a handled plastic tote with these basics:

• Bypass pruners: Two curved blades "bypass" each other like a those on a pair of scissors. One blade is sharpened on the outside edge and it slips by a thicker, unsharpened blade. These sheers make a clean cut.

• Loppers: These are big sheers for canes up to 1½ inches in diameter with long handles for leverage.

• Handsaw: This tool can fit into tight spaces when eliminating old wood.

• Reciprocal saw: This hand-held, battery-powered tool is a recent addition; it removes old wood in a jiffy.

• Goatskin gloves: Unlike cowhide, these leather gloves can't be penetrated by thorns. "Tough old goats make tough gloves, too," Humenick says.

• Gauntlets: These sleevelike items protect arms when pruning large bushes and climbers.

• Sharpener: Keep a keen edge on the cutting tools.

• Stiff wire brush: It helps for cleaning up the bud union at the base.

• Lysol spray: Disinfect your tools between bushes so you don't spread disease.

• WD-40: This spray lubricant keeps your sheers feeling new.

MORE TIPS

• Dress appropriately. Protect your arms and legs with long-sleeved woven garments and long pants. Rosebushes tend to reach out and grab you.

• Wear waterproof shoes. The garden tends to be a damp place during pruning season.

• Make a diagram of your rose garden. That way, you'll know what bush is planted where, long after the little metal identity tags disappear.