How to Prune Rose Bushes in the Spring

Roses (Rosa spp.) should be pruned after their leaf buds begin to swell in spring but before those buds open. The proper time varies from January in the warmest parts of California to early May in the coldest parts of the Midwest. Different types of roses vary in hardiness -- from U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 2 all the way through 11. One rule of thumb recommends that you prune at the same time forsythia (Forsythia spp., USDA zones 4 through 9) flowers in your zone. Not all roses should be cut back in spring, however.

Ever-blooming roses, such as floribundas, grandifloras, hybrid teas and miniatures, flower on new wood and should be pruned in the spring. Some heirloom types, such as albas, centifolias, damasks, gallicas, mosses and ramblers, bloom only once per year on old wood -- usually in early summer. They generally don’t require much pruning, unless you need to reduce their size. You can remove dead or damaged growth from them in spring, but wait until immediately after their bloom time to do any more extensive cutting back.

A few other heirlooms – bourbons, hybrid perpetuals, and portlands – flower on either type of wood. You may prune them in spring, if you prefer, or wait until just after they bloom.

Always use bypass pruning shears to prune your roses, rather than the anvil type. You may also need loppers and a pruning saw for larger canes. Wear leather gloves, preferably gauntlets, to protect both your hands and upper arms from thorns. When you cut back a cane, snip it about 1/4 inch above a leaf bud that faces toward the outside of the bush, angling your cut so that it runs parallel with that bud.

Never prune rose bushes when they are wet, and clean your pruning tools frequently -- especially when moving from one bush to another -- to prevent the spread of disease. You can dip the tools’ blades in a container of a full-strength, phenol-based household disinfectant, patting them dry with a clean cloth before you resume pruning.

Rose canes that are still alive exhibit greenish-white pith at their centers and contain plenty of swelling leaf buds. Those that have died look brown inside with dried-up buds.

In cases where only part of a cane is dead, follow it back toward the base of the plant until you find live leaf buds and cut just above the topmost outfacing one. If the pith is brown there, prune the cane back further until you reach a point where that pith is white. Cut any damaged or diseased canes off at a point beneath the damage or disease as well. Canes that lack any sign of life throughout their length should be pruned all the way back to where they originated.

After you have removed all the dead, damaged or diseased growth, assess what remains. Miniature roses should be cut back hard, to within 2 to 8 inches from the ground. Experts usually recommend that hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, Austin and Knock Out roses have their height reduced by only one-half. In harsh climates, you may find that your pruning out of die-back may already have done that much -- or more -- reduction for you.

On roses such as hybrid teas, which naturally have thick canes, snip off any which are smaller in diameter than a pencil. Try to leave at least three outfacing buds on each of the sturdier canes which remain.

Modern climbing and shrub roses shouldn’t require much pruning, except for removal of deadwood, until they are about three years old. Then, for climbers, prune out the oldest and grayest canes that are only making twiggy growth. Don’t cut back the remaining healthy ones. Instead, reduce the length of the horizontal shoots which emanate from them -- to between 3 and 6 inches. When shrub roses have reached three years of age, thin them by removing about one-third of their canes every year, again the oldest and grayest ones.

Deadhead faded blooms as needed as the growing season progresses.