This helps prevent breaking of canes in winter winds.Ĭlimbing Roses: Old-fashioned rambling roses and one-time spring-blooming climbers produce best shoots growing off one-year-old wood, and they should not be pruned until after they flower.Ĭut away all weak or damaged stems and remove the oldest canes, leaving five to seven strong canes untouched. In the late fall, prune roses back by about one-third of their height. Generally with hybrid teas, any cane thinner than a pencil should be removed. Keep any weak, small or short stems pruned away. Prune these canes down to 15 to 18 inches from ground level. In the spring, cut out all but three to five of the healthiest, most vigorous canes. Prune hard if you want large blooms suitable for cut flowers. Hybrid Teas, Floribundas & Grandifloras: Modern reblooming roses are pruned in the early spring just as the buds begin to swell. Prune first-year plants lightly to allow them to put more energy into establishing a strong root system. Prune weak-growing varieties lightly and vigorous varieties more severely. This should be above a strong bud that will produce a healthy cane.Īll pruning cuts on canes greater than the thickness of a pencil should be sealed with nail polish or wood glue to prevent cane borers from entering. To deadhead, remove the flower by making a diagonal cut just above the next five or seven-leaf branch down on the stem. Hybrid tea roses and other roses that can rebloom should not be allowed to form hips, so that the plant will put its energy into flowering. Hips are often very attractive and can be left on some roses for winter interest and bird food. Old blooms left on the plant may begin to form hips (rose fruit). Whenever two canes cross each other, one can be removed.ĭeadheading is cutting off faded old flowers. Make a cut ¼ inch above the bud and angled at the same angle as the bud. Since rose bushes send out new growth from the bud just below a pruning cut, try to make pruning cuts above a leaf bud facing out from the center of the plant.

This will increase air circulation and help prevent diseases. Prune the bush to make it more open in the center. Dip your pruning shears periodically in a 70 percent alcohol solution to avoid spreading diseases. If no live buds remain, remove the entire cane. If they appear diseased, you will need to cut farther down into healthy wood. The center of the canes (rose stems) should be white and plump, not brown and withered. When pruning, check to make sure the stems show no sign of discoloration. Remove all dead, damaged or weak stems leaving only the most vigorous, healthy canes. The first step in pruning roses is the same for all rose types. Leather gloves will help protect your hands. Bypass pruners (they cut like a pair of scissors) are much better for pruning roses than anvil-type pruners. To prune roses you will need sharp pruning shears long-handled lopping shears and a pruning saw for any large, heavy, old stems. Following this section on general rose pruning, you will find instructions for specific types of roses.

Pruning TechniquesĬertain pruning techniques are appropriate for all roses. Do not prune these types of roses heavily in the early spring since they bloom on wood from the previous year’s growth.ĭead, diseased or damaged wood on any rose should be removed as soon as it is seen. Old-fashioned roses and climbers that bloom only once a year should be pruned immediately after flowering. The best way to judge when to prune is to look at the buds when they begin to swell, go ahead and prune.

This could be mid-to late February near the coast to mid-April in the mountains. Repeat blooming roses such as floribunda and hybrid tea roses need a heavy annual pruning that is done in the spring, just as the buds break dormancy. Roses need different types and timing of pruning depending on their variety. Pruning encourages flowering, either more blooms or larger blooms, and is essential to keep modern rose varieties blooming repeatedly all summer long. It promotes new growth, removes dead, broken or diseased canes and trains roses to a desired shape.

Pruning is an important and necessary step in growing roses.

Anvil rose