Keeping your roses happy and healthy is ultimately down to the care you give them. To give your roses the best chance of good health, we recommend pruning them when required. To learn how to prune roses, read our step-by-step guide below.
How To Prune Roses
Generally cutting back your roses well will present the strongest growth in the plant. If you prune lightly, that may result in less vigour.
What you’ll need:
A pair of sharp secateurs (use bypass blades)
A pair of gardening gloves
Step by step instructions
- Remove leftover leaves – by removing leftover leaves, you’re able to view the whole shape of the plant itself and you unknowingly reduce the risk of keeping pests/diseases that may be hiding in the foliage over the winter months.
- Start with dead wood – when cutting into the plant, you can tell any dead wood by the colour of the branches. Brown tends to show a dead plant, whereas green shows healthy growth.
- Take out any branches that cause cross over – the goal is to have upright branches with an open structure, like a vase shape.
- Remove any weak growth – ideally you should try to remove anything with a thickness thinner than a pencil.
- Prune the remaining canes at a 45 degree angle – prune back to half an inch above where the leaf would meet the stem.
- Tidy up the trimmed branches – after pruning, clean up the trimmed debris where diseases or pests could be lurking.
- Clean your tools – it’s best to clean your tools with a cleaning fluid containing alcohol so that no diseases are transferred from one plant to another during the pruning process.
- Feed and mulch the rose plant – to give your plant the best chance of growing back stronger and healthier, we recommend feeding it with a fertiliser such as Mycorrhizal Fungi to give it all the nutrients it needs. To protect the root system as much as possible from colder temperatures and harsh weather conditions, add a layer of thick mulch around the base of the plant.
Things to consider when pruning roses
- When pruning, cuts should be made in clean and sharp cuts with strong secateurs
- Make sure to trim back dead, diseased or spindly stems
- Prune any dieback on leaves or stems to healthy growth
- Aim to prune stems so they are well spaced for appropriate air flow
- If there’s no dormant bud, prune back to the appropriate height to be consistent with the rest of the plant
Rambling Roses
Rambling roses do exactly what they’re named for – rambling and growing everywhere! Very easily, rambling roses can quickly become a tangled mess of branches that have intertwined together, making a messy looking plant and a very difficult flower to prune.
When to prune rambling roses
The ideal time to prune rambling roses is after they have finished flowering. You should prune your rambling rose annually once they’ve had their first few years to establish.
How to prune rambling roses?
After flowering, cut the rose’s side shoots back to four healthy shoots. Remove any dead, diseased or damaged shoots as you would on any other rose, and trim them right back to the base. If you can, you should avoid pruning the current year’s growth as it will prevent the following year’s flowers from growing.
Commonly Asked Questions
What is the best time to prune roses?
For most varieties, the optimal time to prune roses is usually in the winter months. Unless you have a specific rose variety that shouldn’t be pruned at this time of year, such as rambling roses, then you should aim to prune back your rose following our guidance above in the winter.
How to prune roses in summer?
Deadheading is incredibly important for maintaining your rose bush at its healthiest level during the summer months (flowering period). Cut off any faded blooms, and trim back to just above two or three leaves behind the flowers.
Roses may suffer from diseases such as black spot, mildew or rust. If you notice a few infected leaves, it’s a good idea to remove them as soon as possible to prevent the disease spreading to the rest of the plant. If you notice that the full stem has been affected, it would be wise to cut the whole stem back.
How to prune roses for winter?
Pruning most roses in winter is the ideal time to cut back your roses and keep them in the best condition. To prune roses the right way, follow our step by step instructions and guidance above.