Pruning and deadheading are essential to proper rose care. There are nearly as many opinions about how and when to prune as there are roses in need of pruning. While seasoned rose gardeners have their favorite tried-and-true methods, this article is geared toward new-comers who are unsure where to start. As time goes by, you may feel the urge to modify these techniques or even develop new ones of your own. Great! If it doesn’t kill your roses, go right ahead.

Rose pruning isn’t as complicated as some people make it out to be. In fact, there are only 7 basic rules. If you keep these in mind whenever you pick up your pruning shears, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful bushes that reflect the care that you put into them.

Basic Pruning Rules

1. Always remove any dead or decayed growth. This keeps your bushes looking good and denies disease and insects a place to call home.

2. Always keep the center of the bush free of growth. This denies insects a place to live, and allows good air circulation to avoid fungus infection.

3. Remove crossing branches to promote stronger growth.

4. Shape your rose bushes as they grow. This will change them from wild and wooly to prim and proper, as all good roses should be.

5. Always using sharp pruning shears.

6. Clean the shears after each use to remove any disease or fungus spores.

7. Seal the cuts you’ve made on canes to keep out disease. Regular Elmer’s glue works fine and it is cheap.
After pruning paint all major cuts with a sealer in order to aid in healing and to help keep out insects and diseases.

Rose bushes that are not pruned can grow into large tangled messes with small and inferior blooms. The following should allow you to grow an attractive well shaped and sized bush with large lovely blooms.

Try to make all cuts down to a cane or if necessary down to about one quarter inch from a strong outside bud union or eye, the eye is where new growth stems from.

Do not cut canes straight across. All cuts should be at an angle of between 40 to 65 degrees. Always make sure that the shear’s cutting blade is on the lower side of the cane in order to insure a clean cut. This way any injury to the plant will be on the upper part of the cane which will be discarded.

More Pruning Rules

1. Prune from the ground up. Most people start at the top and this can harm the rose and it uses your valuable time.

2. If it’s old, gray and scraggly looking, cut it off.

3. If there are canes that are growing directly over the center, use your pruning saw or loppers and cut flush with the cane. Also remove any canes that are really crowding each other. Now you are ready to continue pruning.

4. When it comes to height remember this: mentally divide the cane into three equal parts and get ready to remove the top one-third. First, however check on the outward facing bud. It should be located at the intersection of the cane and a leaflet of five. There should be several and if possible find one that faces out.

5. If you have doubts, cut it off. If it’s smaller than a pencil it will only produce even smaller stems. For the larger canes be sure to seal with a drop of plain white glue like Elmers. This will prevent the borers from eating your plants.

6. Get rid of all remaining leaves. This will allow for new leaf growth and prevent fungus infections from the old ones.

7. When pruning, remove all suckers as these grow from the root stock which is different from the grafted bush and may eventually take over and kill the bush.

8. The next step in pruning your roses is to take a wire brush and scrub off the woody material on the bud union. Be careful to avoid brushing off any new bud eyes. This is also supposed to stimulate and provide room for new canes from the bud union.

9. Finally, finish your rose pruning by cleaning up all the dead stuff you’ve cut away. Get rid of all the old petals and pull the weeds from around the rose bush. This will help to eliminate fungus and insect problems. Finish up by placing new mulch around the rose bushes.

Correct shaping makes for a lovelier bush and allows for appropriate air circulation which makes for a healthier plant. Proper pruning is easy, and it is the key to a happy, healthy rose garden. Enjoy your beautiful roses.

Pruning your roses is one of the more important and intimidating tasks that goes with proper rose
care. It takes a steady hand and the proper procedure to ensure the best possible growth for your rose bush.
Pruning your roses is basically the act of getting rid of dead and damaged pieces, and teaching the new growth to
grow in the correct outward facing direction. That just means that you are training them to grow facing the outside
of the shrub or bush. This gives your roses the correct amount of circulating air to thrive in.

Rose pruning isn’t as complicated as some people make it out to be. In fact, there are only a few basic rules. If you keep these in mind whenever you pick up your pruning shears, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful bushes that reflect the care that you put into them.

Rose bushes that are not pruned can grow into large tangled messes with small and inferior blooms. How much you prune depends on what you are trying to accomplish and on how well established the plant is.

Do not cut canes straight across. All cuts should be at an angle of between 40 to 65 degrees. Always make sure that the shear’s cutting blade is on the lower side of the cane in order to insure a clean cut. This way any injury to the plant will be on the upper part of the cane which will be discarded.

Hard Pruning — Cut canes back to 3 or 4 buds from the base or the bud unions. The end result will be strong canes about 4 to 5 inches in length. This pruning technique works best with new hybrid tea, grandiflora, and floribunda varieties. You should not do hard pruning with established bushes because they may not recycle. The only exception is as a last-ditch effort to revive sick or neglected bushes.

Moderate Pruning — Cut strong stems back to approximately half of their length. Weaker stems may be cut back even more, if needed. This technique works well with established gardens of floribundas, hybrid teas, grandifloras, and tree roses.

Light Pruning — Cut the canes back to around 2/3 of their length. After all the unwanted “wood” is removed, any remaining stems are “tipped”. Light pruning is not usually recommended for most bushes, because it tends to produce early blooms and poorly developed flowers. Use this technique only if others are not working and the bush is an eyesore.

Pruning at the right time can be just as important as how you prune. Bushes should not be pruned until they begin coming out of dormancy. This can be as early as January in warm weather areas to as late as April in very cold areas. In colder areas do not prune un till all danger of frost is past.

Here is a list of the proper techniques to guide through the pruning process.

* Soak your pruning shears in equal parts of water and bleach. This will help to protect your roses from diseases
and insects.

* Pruning in the early spring, just after the snow melts is best. However you want to do it before any new growth
appears. The best time would be when the buds are swelled, or red.

* Hand shears are the best tool for pruning the smaller branches. (about 4 1/2 inches thick) Loppers are best for
the branches that are thicker or the thickness of a pencil. This will make it easier. You should use a heavy pair
of rose gloves to avoid the thorns.

* You want to get rid of the winter protection that you set up like cones, burlap, and mounded soil.

* You want to get rid of the dead wood first. (That would be the black wood that is black inside as well as out).

* Next, you want to get rid of the thinner wood, which is the stems that are thinner than a pencil.

* Cut all of the branches that cross or overlap one another because these are often diseased or will become so.

* Keep the remaining five healthy branches. These are often dark green. You will want to make your roses fluted or
vases shaped, with an open center, and keep them from touching or overlapping each other.

* Cut your healthy canes to be about one to four feet long, or whatever size that you prefer.

* Cut you roses properly so that they stay healthy. Cut so that the bud is facing outside of the bush and at a 45
degree angle that slopes inward so that you can keep promoting the outward growth.

* You should use bypass pruners that work like scissors and not the anvil types because the anvils crush the stems
and make the roses more available to diseases.

Proper pruning is easy, and it is the key to a happy, healthy rose garden. Enjoy your summer roses.