How to prune roses

Since we typically only prune our roses once a year, it can be tough remembering how and when to do it. If you need a refresher, here's our guide.

WATCH: How to prune roses and buxus bushes

Pruning is important to maintain air circulation in the rose bush when it gets warm and humid. Prune in mid-winter when the plant is dormant. It’s a brutal job and, while the process may seem harsh, it’s tough love and your rose bushes will respond with beautiful, soft love.

Cut dead canes back to the base of the plant and cut damaged or diseased canes back to healthy tissue, where the centre is white.
Cut to the base those canes that grow into the centre of the bush, are leggy or cross other canes.
Remove suckers (growth that emerges below the graft scar).
In groups of canes, cut the centre cane by a quarter or a third of the current year’s growth (it is greener than the previous year’s growth) and cut the surrounding canes so that each cane has only four new buds. Cut at a 45-degree angle (with the cut facing downwards) just above a bud or leaf node.
Sterilise your secateurs with alcohol between each shrub to avoid spreading any diseases – and wear gloves and long sleeves.

Brigid Arnott / aremediasyndication.com.au

How to prune roses in winter

Prune in winter when your plant is dormant and be prepared to be brutal. Your bush will reward you with beaut blooms in summer.

Cut dead stems back to their base and damaged or diseased stems back to healthy tissue, where the centre is white.
Cut stems that look like they’ll grow into the centre of the bush – it’s important air flow through the plant is maintained.
Remove suckers that emerge below the graft scar. Always cut at a 45° angle with the cut facing downwards and outwards just above a bud or leaf node.

Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, and Floribunda Roses

Cut back your hybrid tea, grandiflora, and floribunda roses to about 18 inches tall in early spring, just before they start to grow. One guide to help you know when to prune is to watch for forsythia to bloom. In the coldest climates, prune these roses back to live growth. It may be as low as 8 inches, depending on how severe the winter was.

Because many of these types of roses are grafted, watch for any shoots that seem to be coming from the roots and not the rose stem. These are usually unwanted suckers from the root system and should be removed at ground level.

Though it may seem like butchering, pruning this way will give you plants that produce lots of lush blooms on sturdy stems.

Brigid Arnott / aremediasyndication.com.au

Climbing Roses

Climbing roses can be a little trickier to figure out. The best time for pruning depends on what kind of climbing rose you have. Prune those that bloom only once a year right after their blooms fade. Reblooming climbers, on the other hand, should be pruned in early spring.

Pruning ramblers and climbers help train the canes along a structure, or when they are growing the wrong way.

Shrub Roses

Shrub roses may not need pruning at all, but it depends on what type you have. Many modern shrub roses require no pruning except to remove dead or damaged growth. If your shrub roses bloom once a year, lightly prune them back after their flowers fade. Prune back reblooming shrub roses in early spring.

Hannah Puechmarin / aremediasyndication.com.au

Tips for Pruning Roses of All Types

Always remove dead, diseased, or damaged growth.
When cutting out diseased growth, dip the blades of your pruners in rubbing alcohol between each cut to help prevent spreading disease.
Avoid leaving dead, ugly stubs on stems by making your cuts about 1/4 inch above a leaf bud.
Prevent a tangled mess of rose shoots by making your cut to a bud that's pointing away from the centre of the plant. (Buds facing the centre will grow shoots that grow into the middle of the rose.)
Cut out any thin, weak growth. On most roses (except miniatures), the general rule is to cut back any stem thinner than a pencil's thickness.