Pruning roses is an important part of proper maintenance. It encourages full, shapely bushes, increased vigor and more flowers.
Major pruning is done twice a year. The first pruning of repeat-flowering varieties is done the last week of January through mid-February, and the second pruning is done in late August to early September. Pruning is done even if the bushes are blooming. The pruning we do now generally involves cutting bushes back harder than the late summer pruning.
The time we prune repeat-flowering roses is not arbitrary — it is linked to their blooming cycle here. The pruning done now prepares repeat-flowering roses for the first prime blooming season from April to June. The late summer pruning prepares roses for the second prime blooming season from October to December.
Although repeat-flowering roses will bloom through the summer and even in winter, it is during these two seasons that mild weather conditions produce the best quality flowers.
But not all roses are repeat-flowering.
Changing times
When almost everybody grew repeat-flowering hybrid tea roses, it was simple to give standard pruning recommendations. But the rose world has changed radically. Late in the 20th century, a swell of popularity for old garden roses occurred as gardeners realized that these roses possess many desirable characteristics often lacking in hybrid teas.
Old garden roses are a diverse group with many different categories that should be pruned at different times. Old garden rose groups recommended for Louisiana include China roses, noisette roses, Bourbon roses and tea roses (the forerunner of hybrid tea). They are bushier than hybrid tea roses and have a more pleasing natural shape.
Modern rose breeders did not ignore the rise in popularity of old garden roses. For the last 25 years, breeders have developed and released new rose varieties that possess many of the desirable characteristics of the old garden roses. These new, easier to grow, more disease resistant roses, such as the popular Knock Out and Drift roses, are placed in a group called landscape roses.
When it comes to pruning roses these days, it really depends on the type of rose you have. When purchasing roses, pay attention not just to the variety name, but to the group the rose belongs to as well.
What you need to prune
Use sharp bypass-type hand pruners when pruning roses. They make clean cuts and minimize damage to the stems. Wear a sturdy pair of long leather gloves and long sleeves, because no matter how careful you are thorny roses can painfully puncture or scratch your hands and arms.
Should you need to cut canes larger than one-half inch in diameter, you should use loppers.
How to do it
Here is the basic procedure for pruning hybrid tea and grandiflora roses. First, remove all diseased or dead canes by cutting them back to their point of origin. Weak, spindly canes, the diameter of a pencil or less, should also be removed the same way.
A good rose bush should have four to eight strong, healthy canes the diameter of your finger or larger after this first step. Cut back the remaining canes to about 18 to 24 inches from ground level, making the cuts about one-quarter inch above a dormant bud or newly sprouted side shoot that faces away from the center of the bush.
Old garden roses and landscape roses should also be pruned now. As a rule of thumb, these roses are cut back about one-third to one-half their height, depending on the situation. Drift roses are naturally lower growing and bushy but will often benefit from a light pruning (cut back one-quarter their height). Or you can prune more if controlling size is needed.
Also, when pruning landscape roses, long, especially vigorous shoots that have grown well beyond the rest of the bush and make it look out of balance may be cut back harder than the rest of the bush. Also, be sure to prune out any dead or weak canes.
What not to prune
Once-blooming roses should not be pruned now. If you are not sure what type of rose you have, think about how they bloom.
Once-blooming roses produce their flowers on growth made the previous year in one big gush during late spring and early summer. Then they produce few or no flowers for the rest of the year.
Once-blooming roses that should not be pruned now include many climbing roses, such as the popular Peggy Martin rose, as well as Cherokee, swamp, Lady Banks, Veilchenblau, Dorothy Perkins and Blaze roses and some shrubby old garden roses.
If once-blooming roses are pruned back hard now they will produce few, if any, flowers. When extensive pruning of once-blooming roses is necessary, it is best done in midsummer after they have finished flowering.
It is important to prune your roses annually. It is more difficult to properly prune a rose bush that has been allowed to grow unpruned for years and is way beyond the desired size. Don’t forget that we also do a second pruning in late summer.
Time to plant
February is a good time to plant container or bare root roses. Bare root rose bushes should be planted by the end of February. Early planting allows rose bushes to become established in their new location before they begin to bloom.
This increases the number and quality of flowers, and the bush is more prepared to deal with summer heat when it arrives in May. Plant your roses in sunny, well-prepared beds that have excellent drainage.
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