Rose pruning seems to be the most intimidating thing for most gardeners. There are more questions about how to do it right than how to plant the roses in the first place. Pruning is pretty easy, and as long as you keep your fingers out of the way, there’s not much to worry about. If you can only remember one pruning rule, remember this: “When in doubt, don’t cut.”
Proper pruning is essential for the health of the rose bush. The act of pruning not only controls the shape of your plants, it encourages healthy blooming. Many roses put out most of their blooms by the time they are a year or two old, so if you want a wide bloom, you’ll need to break out those pruning shears. Pruning is best done in late winter when the roses are still dormant and before the first application of fertilizer.
One of the most important keys to successful pruning is a good, sharp pruning shears. You can get hand pruners or large pruning shears if you need to prune one of the huge climbing rose bushes. A good pair of hand pruners will set you back around $40, while a good set of large pruners will run $40 to $60. Keep the blades sharp. The more cleanly you cut, the more easily the wound will heal. Allow cuts to heal in the open air. Rose bushes do not need pruning the year they are planted, nor the following year. So before their third season, you’ll want to prune a lot.
In addition to standard pruning, many growers cut back the top third of their bushes in the third year. This helps the plant stay bushy and not get too “leggy.” If you tend to over-fertilize, you should consider cutting back the top third of the plant, as extra fertilizer is known to create messy “leggy” growth that is remedied by proper pruning.
Standard pruning includes completely removing all dead wood and cutting off branches that are rubbing, crossing other branches, diseased, or otherwise damaged. If you can’t tell if a stem is alive, gently check its inner core or scrape off the top of the stem cover. If it is brown below, the stem is dead; if it’s green, it’s not. Of course, dead branches also tend to be brittle, while live branches tend to bend.
Most rose bushes thrive when vigorously pruned. If your bushes are healthy enough to take it, you may want to cut back just a few shoots in addition to the lateral branches that bear flowers during the summer. Canes that grow in the wrong direction can be trained or removed. All remaining stems should have outward-facing shoots. The growth spurts look like a slight scar on the bark.
Lastly, don’t forget that every time you cut a rose off your bush, even to the dead head, you are pruning. Always cut just above a leaf to encourage vigorous growth. Your roses will reward you with beautiful and healthy flowers. But as I mentioned before, be careful with the pruning shears and keep your fingers out of the way. Pruning is not a job for most teenage garden helpers.