Pruning without a clue

There isn't much going on in the garden right now, but there is a lot to do. The caveat to this simple and slightly ominous statement is that it's wet. So very, very wet. We got an additional 2 1/2 inches over the long weekend which we did not need. The water table is very high, making heavily trafficked areas a muddy mess. This fall we got a load of screenings (grit) which G. used to raise up the entrance to and floor of the stalls, but we still need more. That will have to wait until summer. He used our new tractor with a front loader (inherited), which has been worth its weight in gold.

During a wet winter like this taking care of the horses takes about 2 1/2-3 hours a day. That sounds incredible, but that's how long it takes. Currently we're having to hang all of their hay in nets at night as it gets spoiled by putting it on the wet ground. Dealing with farm work in the mud for so long every day is not making me want to deal with my least favorite garden chore, which is clearing vines, blackberries and briars.

 So there is a smaller chore in the garden that I've been working on instead. There are two beds north of the well that are filled mostly with rugosa roses. I didn't plan it that way, I just had a ton of rugosa roses I'd grown from seed that I had to plant somewhere.

Below are a few pictures documenting the beds' early years.

The beginnings of the beds, April 2009. 

Beds March 2010, not yet planted. I used hay the horses didn't finish or couldn't eat as mulch. 

I finished putting the rugosas into the ground January 1st, 2011, but I also put out Bidens seeds since the rugosas were so tiny. September 2011. 

March 2012

April 2012

View across one of the beds, August 2013. I planted seashore mallow along the edges too. 

View across beds, May 2014

In the fall the rugosas have nice color and some have extremely nice color. I've noticed the rugosas with the single fuchsia flowers turn the most vibrant hues in autumn.

Over time the rugosas have gotten a little scraggly, and a few have died out. The only pruning they've received is removal of dead wood. But after 10 years I felt they needed a little rejuvenation, so I cut the top third of the rugosas in the western bed. I may do the same in the eastern bed, or I may leave that one alone to compare. I don't really see how pruning can hurt them, as they still have plenty of cane left and bloom on new wood, but who knows. Certainly not me. I don't know what I am doing. I have always been afraid to prune roses, afraid of opening them up to disease by cutting them. But rugosas are tough and there's starting to be a bit more deadwood than is easy to deal with.

This fall I dug up two Japanese beautyberries I'd planted along with the rugosas, along with approximately two dozen beautyberry seedlings. To fill the void left by the mature beautyberries, I planted a swamp rose. I planted two other swamp roses on the far edge of the western bed to help round it out and give the 3 other swamp roses there more company.

Arrow on left indicates where 2 new swamp roses were planted; the arrow on the right the location of the Japanese beautyberries, now replaced by a swamp rose. The swamp roses are from Antique Roses Emporium and are not the species rose. 

Besides these changes, I want to add more variety to these beds as they are just largely rugosas, but I haven't figured out what I want to do yet. I might even eventually turn one or both of the beds into goldenroad and aster beds, since goldenrod is making itself at home already.