How to Prune Rose Bushes

Pruning roses properly requires looking closely at the bush.

Growing roses is one of the most pleasant aspects of home gardening. These lovely flowers come in a variety of bloom types, sizes and colors and grow as shrubs or climbers. Perennial plants, roses supply years of bloom if properly planted, cared for and nourished. Pruning falls into the care category, as it's vital to the lasting beauty and health of the plant. While it may be common to go out and snip flowers for vases, true pruning requires knowledge of basic steps to take into consideration once a year.

Things You'll Need

• Sharp, clean loppers
• Sharp, clean pruning shears (bypass/scissors type)
• Thick gloves
• Arm covering (long-sleeved shirt)
• Leg covering
• Shoes
• Bucket or wheelbarrow
• Rake
• Alcohol (optional)
• Special rose pruners (optional)

Instructions

1. Stand back and look carefully at each rose bush. Assess its shape, size and overall appearance. Pruning is best done when the year's blooms have completed and before the cold winter months set in, or in early spring before new growth begins. Knowing the type of rose you have -- hybrid tea, floribunda, moss, Damask, bourbon, climbers, miniatures -- will help you understand what it needs, but you can apply pruning basics to most.

2. Look for any dead wood. These are usually black, gray or dark brown, and some may look sickly or diseased. Cut them out of the bush completely, from as low as you are able to clip them cleanly and smoothly. Use the loppers for thicker canes and branches.

3. 

   This is a pleasing, soulful ruin to some people, but an eyesore to others.

   Remove any canes from the center of the plant that look too crowded or seem to be too close to other canes and growing improperly. This helps the plant overall and allows air to circulate in the center.

4. Cut out damaged canes or branches that have been broken or partially torn. Cut back to a point past the damaged area, and to just above a bud eye. These look like small slits and are often reddish or brown and darker than the rest of the branches. New growth begins from these sites.

5. Remove any horizontally crossing branches growing inward rather than outward. Snip at a forking point or above a bud eye. When you cut near a bud eye, use a slight angle and direct the shears the way you want a branch to grow -- typically outward and slightly up.

6. Trim back any odd stragglers that throw off the shape of the bush. Cut all canes back one-third in height to just above outward-facing eye buds. The canes can be all the same height in a uniform manner, or slightly rounded at each side of the bush.

7. Step back from the rose and reinspect from all angles to make sure you pruned everything that needed it. Sometimes on large or overgrown bushes, you can't see a certain dead piece or an odd cane until you've walked around to the other side.

Tips & Warnings

• Whenever you cut flowers to take indoors or give away, be mindful of where and how to best cut them so the next batch of blooms grow in.

• In the case of extensively overgrown climbers and if you are someone who prefers an orderly look, do severe pruning gradually so the plant doesn't go into shock.

• Avoid pruning climbing roses until they are two to three years old. Remove the dead wood and crowded or damaged canes. If they die back, such as after an unusually severe winter, leave them alone. Watch and wait for signs of new growth. It may surprise you.

• Take care of your pruners -- wash and scrub them with a wire brush between uses. Some people rinse them in alcohol and let them dry -- this removes anything undesirable that might transfer between plants.

• Use common sense and apply basic safety knowledge when dealing with any cutting tools.

References

• Rose Gardening Made Easy: Pruning Rose Bushes

Resources

• Garden Gate Magazine: Maintaining Bypass Pruners (Videos)
• Sunset Magazine: Planting and Caring for Roses
• Guide to Antique Roses: Species Roses