Rose Pruning Basics

Rose pruning takes center stage in mid-February, one of the busiest times in the garden. Because timing matters with every pruning task, rose pruning works best before new growth appears.  By acting early, rose pruning helps direct stored energy into strong spring growth and abundant blooms.

However, many gardeners hesitate to prune roses because they fear causing harm. In reality, rose pruning proves that roses are tougher than they seem. If you follow a few simple guidelines, rose pruning quickly builds your confidence, and before long, you will feel comfortable shaping your roses each season

 

Here are a few things to do before you get started:

• Determine which type of rose you have. Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, and Grandiflora roses are pruned differently than shrub roses such as Knockouts, Drift and Flower Carpet, and also differently than Climbers.
• Have your hand pruners and loppers cleaned and sharpened. Have some 70% alcohol or hydrogen peroxide available for disinfecting tools between plants. Click HERE for video on how to clean and sharpen pruners.
• Elmer’s glue will be needed to seal cuts on large canes to exclude cane borers.
• A rake and lawn bags will be needed for clean-up.
• Additionally, have some Rose gloves ready for hand protection!

Now, to get started:   Click HERE for diagram

Hybrid Tea and Grandiflora Roses:

First

• Work from the ground up. Identify the oldest canes (they will be gray and woody) and remove them. Identify the newer green canes. These are the ones that will produce the biggest flowers this year.
• Remove any “sucker” growth that may have emerged from below the graft union. (the swollen part of the trunk near the base of the plant) These shoots will not produce the same flowers as the top of the plant and waste valuable energy.
• Crossing branches should be removed in order to open up the center to light and air circulation. Remove branches that are crowding each other. Select strong, healthy canes to form the structure for your rose.

Next

• Decide how far back to prune the rose. Roses are pruned much more severely in Northern climates, as roses die back farther in the winter there. In Central Texas it is reasonable to remove the top third of growth at this time. You have already chosen the strongest canes, now find a bud on each cane that is facing OUT from the shrub. This bud will continue to grow OUT and help keep the center of the shrub open. Make the cut ¼” above this bud at an angle, with the high side of the slant above the bud. Do this to all remaining canes.
• Remove all growth thinner than a pencil. Seal all cuts larger than a pencil with a drop of Elmer’s glue to prevent cane borer entry.

Last

• Stripping all leaves at this time will prevent many insect and disease problems that may have overwintered on the plant.
• Locate the graft union (that swollen place towards the base of the plant) and use a wire brush to gently remove the gray scaly woody stuff on the bud union. (Rose lore says that this encourages new sprouts from the bud union on the graft.)
• I’ll say it again, CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP!!!!! Do I sound like your Mom yet? This step is SO important, I cannot stress it enough. Remove dead leaves, petals, clippings and weeds. DO NOT COMPOST! Besides not decomposing well, rose clippings will have overwintering insects and disease that does not belong in your compost pile.

Floribunda Roses:

• Follow the basic pruning guidelines above, but prune more lightly and do not worry about removing thin stems.

Knockout Roses and Shrub Roses:

• Prune out any dead branches and any branches that cross in the middle to open up the center for light and air circulation.
• Use hedge shears to prune Knockout, Ground Cover and Shrub Roses, reducing the height to about 16” lower than where you want to see the first flowers appear.
• When you are done, CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP! (see description above)
• Use hand pruners or hedge shears periodically to “dead head” after a large bloom, or to reduce the size of the rose.
• Prune Knockout roses again in August to encourage fall blooms. Use hedge shears to remove no more than 1/3 of the growth. Follow by fertilizing with organic fertilizer such as Maestro Gro Rose Food.

Climbing Roses:

Climbing Roses that bloom only in the spring should be pruned AFTER they bloom, as they bloom on old wood. Climbing roses that bloom continuously may be pruned in February, and also throughout the season. Do not prune until the rose is at least 2-3 years old.

• Locate the oldest, woodiest cane and remove at ground level. These canes will be the least productive, and will compete with new canes for water and nutrients. Choose the cane you want to remove, cut it at the base and follow it up the plant, cutting sections of it at intervals until the entire cane has been removed.
• Do not remove more than one-third of the canes at any one time. If you have let your climber go for many years, prune out the old canes gradually each year.

Groundcover Roses:

These roses, such as the low-growing Drift and Flower Carpet varieties, are easily pruned with hedge shears in

February and may also be trimmed lightly throughout the growing season. Do not remove more than one-third of the growth at one time.