Friday, March 13, 2015

The Rose Tree Is No More

For a long time Tom wanted to grow a Paul's Himalayan Musk rose.  It is a rambler that can attain monumental proportions, and has a delicate sweet scent wafting from its profusion of tiny soft pink blossoms. About ten years ago we bought one and planted it under a sweet cherry tree that never produced any fruit.

The rose grew well, living up to its reputation.  The above photo was taken in June of last year.  But, alas, the tree died, as we knew it probably eventually would. 

This winter we were faced with a decision.  It was time to cut the rose back and remove the tree.  Tom planned to then build a wooden arbor for the rose to grow back on.


Tom armed himself with leather gloves, a face mask, and old Gore Tex jacket, lopping shears and chain saw, and went to work.



 It took quite a few days to bring it all down, cut up all the long rose canes, log the tree, and bundle up the briers. 
And when he got this far, he began to think about all the work of building an arbor and then having to prune that rose every year to keep it from becoming a pile of bramble. 
He made a new decision, of which I was in complete agreement. 
We took out the rose altogether. 

 We cleaned up the bed, dug and divided perennials, moved in a forsythia in that was in a crowded place in the yard, transplanted a couple of shrub roses, a shrub out of a patio pot, and have room for a couple more small shrubs that we will purchase.



Will we miss this?
Yes, but only in the month of June.  Not the rest of the summer and fall when it is dropping petals and black spotted leaves.

Change happens. 

13 comments:

  1. Thats too bad that it died, it cut off a view of the buildings in back. I am sure it will be a real pretty garden again some day, it will get more sun now:)

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  2. Oh my! That was sure a beautiful rose tree, but I'm sure that was a good decision. It sure was a LOT of work!

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  3. Change happens. And sometimes change happens for the better. I think you've made an improvement that you will really like.

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  4. I am sure that the new plantings will be just as satisfying to the gardeners and as beautiful to those who gaze upon it.

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  5. Wow! That was a lot of work. But now you have blank space for new plants, and that's a good thing!

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  6. Oh my...the arbor is beautiful and what a lot of work....Michelle

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  7. Wow. It must have been hard to let go of the rose tree, and it was certainly a lot of work to do so, but you've created a lovely new space.

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  8. on to the future. when our tall shrubs died last year from frost we replace them with smaller one and build our block wall up 2 ft to have privacy...

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  9. That was a lot of work, but I think it will be just as beautiful, only different. I hope you will share some pictures at the height of summer this year. :-)

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  10. You have such a lovely yard, but you are such hardworking industrious people, you get what you deserve

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  11. That was a lot of work! What a neat job Tom did. It will be beautiful like the rest of your yard this summer. Roses with black spot drive me crazy.

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  12. Such a shame, she was a beauty. I have a musk rose fence that is dying out. I dread doing what Tom did to clear it out. Not sure I have the safety equipment necessary.

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  13. Your decision to get rid of the rose was a good one. The size of the canes - yikes. So much pruning and work for a single month of bloom. Happy new plants to you!

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