How to Trim Roses

Trim roses to encourage further blooming, get rid of spent blossoms and thin out dead, diseased, or damaged stems. Many rose growers prune rose bushes in the fall while they are dormant, while other growers wait until spring; different types of roses require different types of trimming. The following steps for pruning roses while they are dormant will help you reap the maximum growth, health and beauty from your roses.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• •Pruners
• •Gloves
• •Sealing compound
• •Mild bleach solution

Trim Roses

1. Trim roses while they are dormant. This means waiting until after the rose has experienced several frosts. If you live in an area where the weather is mild, the rose may not appear dormant. If this is the case, wait until the rose has lost most of its leaves.

2. Remove any grass, weeds or leaves away from the rose. This will eliminate or reduce the chance of disease or insect infestation.

3. Look for damaged, diseased or dead wood. Wear gloves to protect your hands, then cut out this wood with pruners. Check for old or striated—deeply furrowed—canes. These canes also need to be removed. Remove any branches that cross through the center of the rose, thin canes or any branches that rub together or cross. Remove new canes that are growing out of an old striated cane, but don’t remove any healthy green canes that are growing out of the bud union.

4. Remove any suckers. These long, slender, flexible canes originate below the bud union. If you find a sucker, don’t cut it off with the pruners. Pull it down and then off the plant. Cutting a sucker may leave undeveloped growth eyes at the sucker's base, which will produce more suckers as the rose grows.

5. Prune the rose to look like a vase; this is a rose’s ideal shape. The bush should also be as open centered as possible.

6. Prune the rose to its ideal height. For moderate height, cut back the stems that are left to about one-third of their length. A hard prune is usually done on newly-planted rose bushes or to rejuvenate old rose bushes. In the case of a hard prune, prune the bush back so that only three or four buds are left at the base of the plant.

7. Seal all cuts with a sealing compound to help the plant defend itself against disease and insects.

Tips & Warnings

• Disinfect pruners often by dipping in a mild bleach solution. This will help avoid transferring disease between plants and also between cuts on each plant.
• Make clean cuts; ragged cuts will allow insects and disease into the plant. Make cuts at a 45-degree angle, going away from the bud.