Rose pruning can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a necessary step to setting your roses up for a long, healthy life and a stunning bloom season.
General Rules of Rose Pruning
- Always start with disinfected, sharp pruners.
- Completely remove any dead or damaged canes.
- Remove any crossing or rubbing canes.
For Shrub Roses like Knock-Outs or Drifts
Prune in February down to about 12”. (If you want to keep the bush large, prune back 1/3 or 1/2 of the shrub.)
For Hybrid-Teas, Grandiflora, Floribunda Roses
Plan to prune in mid-March. Timing is a little tricky in GA. Prune too early, and you might lose canes in late frost; prune too late, and the plant loses energy in useless top growth. Cut healthy canes back to 3-4 feet from the ground. (Can be cut shorter.) Create an open vase shape for best air circulation. Remove all the canes that are thinner than a pencil. If you have a young shrub with thin canes, leave the thickest canes possible. If you leave “dog legs” or canes growing from the end of the main canes, be sure to leave at least 2 buds to support new growth.
For Climber
(First-year climbers—only remove canes that are growing totally in the wrong direction; for example, a cane that cannot be tied onto a trellis.)
Every year in late January or early February, you’ll need to trim the plant back to near its structural canes and make any needed updates to the main canes.
1. Cut out old and weak, misdirected, dead, or very damaged main canes.
Remember that “brown” does not mean “dead,” it just means older and woody. If you are unsure, check if a cane is still alive by tracing. A cane can be alive but weak if it produced very little last year; these should go too.
2. Train and tie up new major canes as needed.
New major cases can replace old ones you had to cut down, or can be directed to a new area of your growing space.
3. Cut out all other unneeded major canes.
These new major canes will often come from suckers from the plant base or bolting growth from another major cane. Those that are not useful to you should be removed from their bases.
4. Cut all flowering shoots back to a few nodes from the main canes. This will tidy the plant and make sure the flowering growth of next year is strong enough to hold the flowers. This can be done again after flowering throughout the season.
NOTE: CLIMBERS THAT BLOOM IN SPRING ONLY (e.g., the Lady Banks Rose and New Dawn)—PRUNE RIGHT AFTER THEY FLOWER.
