How To Prune Roses

All roses bloom on new growth shoots so for best bloom, they need proper pruning. The object of pruning is to establish a healthy structure to support the shoots that will produce bloom. The end of February is traditional rose-pruning time in the maritime Northwest. Don't worry if you're removing branches that already show leaf growth. The rose will replace it.

Precise pruning technique depends on the specific rose you are growing. For "old garden roses," species roses like moss roses, and modern shrub roses such as the Meililand series, remove dead or diseased wood first, cutting them out right to the bud union. Next cut out a few of the oldest canes. Then go easy.

Don't whack these plants down to the ground. You can get good bloom on these roses by shaping lightly and cutting out a third or so of the length of the canes, leaving a substantial limb structure. Cut canes down to clean white pith, cutting away any discolored brown or blackened stem areas. Disinfect your shears if cutting diseased wood by dipping them in rubbing alcohol and wiping clean before proceeding to any other shrub.

One of the goals of pruning is to increase sunlight to all parts of the plant, and to open the center to air circulation. This will improve flowering and help to dry the leaves, thus increasing disease resistance.

Hybrid teas, the modern cultivars, should be pruned to leave 3 to 6 strong canes, each shortened to about 12 to 18 inches. Remove all spindly weak canes. Rose growers refer to this as "hard" pruning, and it's traditional for hybrid teas. If you have a lot of winter damage, other roses may also require this rather severe pruning to take off dead wood. Some rose growers seal the top of the cut canes on hybrid teas with white glue to protect exposed surface from drying.

Climbing roses produce long branches that carry laterals, the parts that bloom. Tie up frame branches and prune laterals back to 4 buds for summer flowers. If you chop a climbing rose to the ground, you'll have no bloom. The plant has to establish those long structural branches.

Experience with your individual rose plants will help you gain confidence in pruning. For more information, consult "Roses: How to Select Grow and Enjoy," by Ray and MacCaskey (HP BOOKs, 1985) or Rhonda Hart's "Northcoast Roses," Sasquatch Books, Seattle 1993.