Rose pruning tips for bountiful blooms

Ready your secateurs and gloves, January and February are the perfect months to prune your roses. Taking the time to cut back your roses ensures you get a sensational show of plentiful blooms, that last all season.

Essential to the health of your rose, pruning reduces the risk of disease and encourages new growth. It also gives you an opportunity to influence its overall shape, so you can enjoy an exquisite floral display.

Things to keep in mind

Whether you are pruning a shrub or a climbing rose, some things are consistent with both and are worth keeping in mind:

1. Use sharp secateurs & make a clean, slanted cut above a leaf joint.

2. Always remove the four Ds: Dead, diseased, dying or damaged stems should be removed from their point of origin.

3. Roses benefit from airflow around the stems to prevent disease. Remove crossing stems and thin it out.

If you keep these three points in mind, your properly pruned rose will look considerably smaller and bare. This is what you want, so don’t be alarmed.

Pruning shrub roses

The jewel of our beds, borders, containers and much more, the appeal of a sensational shrub rose is hard to beat.

To get the best floral display, when pruning your shrub rose visualise a rounded bowl shape with space in the centre to reduce congestion. Then consider how you want your rose to integrate into your garden display, such as its ultimate height. The amount you cut back depends on the age of your rose, but here is a general rule of thumb to follow:

• First year: Cut back stems by 30-35cm after the first summer of flowers
• Second year: Cut back stems by half
• Third year and beyond (An established rose): For a taller shrub cut it back by a third, to maintain its size cut it back by half and to reduce its size, cut it back by two thirds.

Pruning climbing roses

Transforming the mundane into the memorable, climbers can be grown on an array of garden structures to transform an outdoor space.

For a cascade of captivating blooms, when pruning your climbing rose visualise an open fan shape, with lots of horizontal growth. Encourage growth along the full length of the stem by pruning back the side shoots by half. Then check all stems at the base of your climber and remove any that are old or weak to encourage strong growth.

Here are some points to remember when pruning and training your rose along temporary or fixed structures:

• For fixed structures: Add horizontal wire at 2ft internals and use vine eyes for airy growth and easy tying in of your rose. Tie in stems at a 45-degree angle and remove any stems that can’t be tied in.
• For temporary structures, such as archways: Aim for long slender growth by leaving the main stem to grow. Prune the side shoots by half to encourage repeat flowering.

By following these simple steps, you can enjoy a bounty of healthy blooms that return year after year.

Images courtesy of David Austin® Roses and Westland Horticulture.