Pruning Your Roses

Pruning your roses involves getting rid of dead and damaged pieces, and teaching the new growth to grow in the correct outward facing direction. In essence, you are training them to grow facing the outside of the shrub or bush. This gives your roses the correct amount of circulating air to thrive in.

Techniques for Pruning Roses

• Soak your pruning shears in equal parts of water and bleach. This will help to protect your roses from diseases and insects.
• Prune in the early spring, just after the snow melts. The best time would be when the buds are swelled or red (before any new growth appears).
• Hand shears are the best tool for pruning the smaller branches (about 4 ½ inches thick). Loppers are best for branches that are thicker or the thickness of a pencil. Use a heavy pair of rose gloves to avoid the thorns.
• Remove the winter protection you set up, such as cones, burlap and mounded soil.
• Remove the dead wood first (the black wood that is black inside as well as out).
• Remove the thinner wood (stems that are thinner than a pencil).
• Cut all of the branches that cross or overlap one another because these are often diseased or will become so.
• Keep the remaining five healthy branches. These are often dark green. You will want to make your roses fluted or vase-shaped, with an open center, and keep them from touching or overlapping each other.
• Cut your healthy canes to be about one to four feet long, or whatever size you prefer.
• Cut you roses properly so they stay healthy. Cut so that the bud is facing outside of the bush and at a 45 degree angle that slopes inward to promote the outward growth.
• Use bypass pruners that work like scissors (not the anvil types because they crush the stems and make the roses more susceptible to diseases).