Pruning Roses for Garden Display

(by Mick Andrews)

Why Prune Roses?

Generally basal stems of a rose plant will have a very useful life span of up to four years. After three or four years the ability of a rose stem to produce new flowering sub branches wanes. When a rose plant is left to its own devices for many years a mixture of dead, dying and some productive stems will be in evidence. On a neglected plant the number of productive stems will be fewer, and in addition to the unsightliness of mixed growth the untended plant will likely be disease prone.

By pruning we reduce the problems discussed above and have the additional benefit of rapid re-growth that pruning promotes. Carried out correctly pruning together with other good cultural methods will keep your rose plants forever young and productive, or that's what we hope.

How to Prune Roses

The basics, the right and wrong way to prune any rose stem, is shown in the following sketch:- (sketches inspired by Don Charlton and his book Growing and Showing Roses)

Examples of Pruning Cuts

(Examples A to E show how NOT to prune roses & Example F shows a correct pruning cut)

To achieve the perfect pruning cut your secateurs should be sharp and clean. Some advocate wiping the blades of secateurs with a cloth soaked in disinfectant after pruning diseased wood so as to avoid the transfer of diseases to healthy wood. Having made the cut look at the pith of the remaining stem and if it shows a brown stain then cut the stem down to a lower bud. Repeat this process until the pith appears clean. The pruning cut is made to just above a bud (5mm or half the diameter of the stem if larger). The bud chosen is usually facing outwards, or at least faces in a direction that when it grows into a stem will grow away freely without clashing with other branches.

Pruning a Typical Rose Bush

The following sketches show the pruning of a single basal stem of various ages. Note that only a single basal growth is shown for clarity, your own rose bushes should have an average of about four such stems.

Examples of pruning rose stems of various ages

The above example showing a 3 year old basal stem assumes that the lateral branches are strong and healthy and likely to be productive in the forth coming season. The example showing 3 or 4 year old wood, on the other hand, assumes that the laterals are weak and therefore should be dispensed with.

In the real world a mixture of strong and weak wood may be present on one basal stem, in this case some judgement is needed in deciding how to prune. First dispense with all dead wood and weak growth cutting this right back to its point of origin. Then deal with the remaining stems and their laterals as shown in the above examples according to their age and strength.

Roses in Bush Form

Large Flowered Varieties (Hybrid Teas) for garden display can be pruned as shown in the above example, cutting existing stems down to about half or three quarters of their original length. If a large specimen bush is required then the pruning will be lighter, and for better quality but fewer blooms the pruning will be harder. The choice is yours subject also to the reaction you get from your rose bush.

Cluster Flowered (Floribunda and Polyantha Roses) are generally pruned as shown above for garden display. All new productive growth is cut back moderately each year by about a quarter to half its original length. Again lighter pruning will create the specimen bush while harder pruning will produce fewer but larger trusses of flower

Miniature Roses can be treated just as there larger cousins but this may take a little more patience with prolific varieties, because of the extra work involved. The end results however will only be as good as the effort you put in.

The newly planted (bare root) rose bush is often cut back hard (to 2-3 eyes above ground) after planting in order to promote more basal growth. However, if you are lucky enough to find a nursery that can supply first class bare root roses (4-6 stems) then these can be treated in the same way as established roses if preferred.

Standard Roses

Standard Roses should be pruned in the same way as bush roses except that where cutting back to near the ground is discussed for bushes read this to mean cutting back to near the top of the main supporting stem for standard roses

Climbing Roses & Rambler Roses

Do not prune the strong new shoots emerging near or at ground level if they have not flowered, instead tie these shoots back to their supporting structure. All other main shoots are pruned lightly or not at all until they start to wane, then they are pruned hard or cut out completely according to their age and the quantity of other stems available to the plant. Newer laterals are generally pruned hard each year leaving just 2-3 buds. Older laterals are cut out completely assuming there are sufficient new laterals to replace these.

Rambler Roses usually produce sufficient new shoots in a season for these to be retained and all other shoots to be completely cut out. If the particular rambler in question does not produce enough new shoots then retain some of the best older shoots and shorten these to a quarter of their original length.

A tip for climbers and ramblers, if they have few laterals or are becoming leggy, is to bend the stems down low and horizontal if space permits. This will force laterals to sprout from low on the arched stem.

Old Garden Roses

Many old garden roses behave, growth wise, in a similar manner to the modern cluster flowered varieties and can therefore be pruned in the same way. However, in some cases, the old garden rose many have stems that stay productive for a greater period than the modern cluster flowered rose. In this case; if an old stem appears to be productive and is not over crowding the plant or preventing new growth then it many be retained for a longer period. Decreasing vigour of older stems will then become your warning signal to remove them.

Some old garden roses produce new non-flowering stems in one season that flower in the next, in this case prune as recommended for ramblers.

Budded Under Stock

Under stocks budded with any type of rose variety should have the whole of the stock plant removed at the end of the winter following budding. The stock will need to be cut down to 10mm (or half the stem diameter if greater) above the budding point using a sloping cut.

When to Prune Roses

The main pruning, as described above, can be carried out anytime during the dormant period. For most modern roses the main pruning is generally best carried out at the end of the winter period, any time that the stems are free of frost. The definition 'End of Winter' varies slightly according to location but late February to mid March covers most areas in the UK. Old garden roses and ramblers that produce new non flowering stems during one season that flower the next are perhaps one of the exceptions, these are best pruned at the end of the growing season with a check of the plant being made again at the end of winter.

Cluster Flowered varieties take the longest to flower from pruning and Miniature roses take the least time. Therefore if you have so many roses that to need to carryout pruning over a period it would pay to start with the Cluster flowered varieties first, then Large Flowered, then Miniatures and Climbers. If you bud your own roses then you will find that these take longer to come into bloom than an established plant therefore prune the budded under stocks before the established plants.

In addition to the main pruning a good deal of secondary pruning is carried out throughout the growing season by way of taking cut blooms for the house, dead heading, dealing with blind shoots and surplus shoots etc. When taking cut blooms, dead heading or cutting back a blind shoot always prune to just above a bud as described above. Surplus shoots (i.e. more that one shoot emerging from the same bud) can be simply snapped off at their base using finger and thumb.

Remember that the sooner dead heading and blind shoots are cut back the sooner the next flowers will arrive from that stem. Also, in dealing with the thinning out of surplus shoots we are concentrating the energy of the growing plant into the remaining shoots thus making these stronger than they would otherwise have been.

At the end of the growing season especially in windy areas a light pruning is sometimes carried out to prevent roses from being loosened in the ground by 'wind rock action'. Again a good technique should be used in pruning (prune to just above a bud) to prevent unwanted die-back occurring over winter.