Pruning is an essential aspect of caring for roses.
Luckily, despite their reputation for being high-maintenance, roses are pretty forgiving plants.
Heres what you better know about pruning roses, including how to prune and when it’s too late.
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Why Pruning Roses Is Important
Regularly pruning roses is about more than just aesthetics.
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When Is It Too Late to Prune Roses?
This is because pruning signals to the plant that its time to put out new growth.
Always check the growing guidelines for your specific variety before pruning.
You may experience one lousy growing season, but the plant should recover by the following year.
Remove dead and diseased canes, weak growth, suckers, and branches that cross one another.
This encourages strong new growth the following spring and prevents the plant from looking leggy and gangly.
Revisit the plant in the early spring to clean it up and remove dead canes.
This group of roses includes many old-fashioned varieties such as alba, gallica, damask, and rambling.
Repeat Bloomers
Repeat bloomers flower more than once per growing season and should be pruned accordingly.
Once the last frost has passed, they should be pruned in late winter to early spring.
Then, they can be pruned between each flush of blooms to maintain their shape and control new growth.
Avoid doing hard prunes during the flowering season unless you are concerned about disease.
Climbing Roses
Unlike their shrubby counterparts,climbing roseslike to be mostly left alone.
Roses do not need to be cut back for winterits best if theyre not.
Instead, wait until early spring, once the last frost has passed, to prune your rose bushes.
Tall and spindly growth indicates that your roses have not been pruned correctly.
Luckily, this is an easy fix!
A moderate prune will help improve your plant’s branching structure and encourage strong, healthy growth.
