Things You'll Need:
- Lopping shears or pruning saw
- Gardener’s gloves
- Pruning shears
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Step 1
Force your rose to go dormant, usually in late December/early January during the region’s brief winter. Gently remove all leaves and leaf stems by stripping them “against the grain”--pulling downward along the branch until they snap off.
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Step 2
Prune off any remaining blooms, opened or unopened. When you're done, you should have a naked bush--no leaves, no blooms, just bare canes and branches. The lack of leaves and blooms triggers the rose to go dormant.
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Step 3
First cut out all dead or diseased branches or canes. Also remove those that are yellowing or dying back. Once you’ve done this, you can begin to shape and thin.
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Step 4
Prune off any skinny twigs or branches, particularly from inside the center of the bush to allow for light and air to circulate. The rule of thumb is if it’s as thin as or thinner than a pencil, cut it off.
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Step 5
Cut out any canes that are rubbing against or crossing over each other, as well as any that have grown up through the center of the rose. Also remove any suckers that appear below the bud union at the point where the rose trunk was grafted onto the rootstock.
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Step 6
Resize your rose to prepare for next season’s growth. For bush roses, you should prune the canes back to a height of 12 to 24 inches. You can then shape them to fit their location in your garden. When pruning, take a look at where the buds are on the canes-these will have been revealed when you stripped off the leaves. Prune just above the direction you want next season’s growth to push out.
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Step 7
Maintain the rose with basic pruning during growing season. Always removed dying, diseased, or dead branches and canes promptly to prevent possible spread of disease. To promote more blooms, cut roses branches just above 5-leaflet clusters; for more branching, cut just above 7-leaflet clusters.
