Pruning by Chainsaw

We had some crazy, overgrown rose bushes on the north side of our house.   Eleven years ago when we moved here, the roses were lovely.  Planted by a true gardener, they had colorful blooms and were pleasantly pruned.  Then we arrived.  I am sad to confess that I am not much of a gardener.  I had six children, homeschooled, and although I liked flowers, I didn’t have enough interest or time to learn about something as fussy as roses.

The plants grew larger and wilder.  On occasion we pruned them or treated them for aphids, but for the most part, they grew and we were happy with whatever colorful flowers managed to appear.  Then Mimi decided to have her wedding reception in the yard and it was time to whip the roses into shape.

My friend Amy came over and looked at the huge, overgrown plants.  She said it was time to prune them down — way down — to knee height.  The question was how to go about it.  The roses were covered with thorns and had long crazy branches.

She looked at me and said, “Well, Russ could take a chainsaw to them.”  A chainsaw?  Did I hear her correctly?  I thought roses were delicate and needed to be handled with care. But these had grown so out of control that the severity of a chainsaw was needed to bring them back to health.