Rose bush pruning is an important element of your rose care routine. But there are likely as many opinions on how to go about pruning as types of roses that need it.

Rose growing experts have their favorite “tried and tested” methods, but this is for those who have no idea where to start. As your ability grows you will develop some new ones of your own.

Rose pruning can be easier than you’re dreading. In fact, there are only 4 basic rules and some common sense ones. If you keep these basic rules in mind when you pick up your rose hand pruners, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful rose bushes that show the care that you put into them.

The 4 Basic Rules

1. Always keep the middle of your bushes free of growth. This leaves insects nowhere to live, and gives good air circulation helping to keep down fungal infection.

2. Always remove any dead or decayed growth. This keeps your bushes looking better and again, keeps insects away.

3. Shape your rose bushes as they grow. This transforms your bushes from wild and messy to precise and proper like all good roses.

4. Remove crossing branches to ensure strong growth.

A Couple Of Common Sense Rules

Always use sharp pruning shears. And clean your shears after to remove any disease or fungus.

Seal the cuts you make to keep out disease. Just use regular white PVA glue, which works fine and is a lot cheaper than specialist products.

Types Of Rose Bush Pruning

Hard Pruning - cut canes back to 3 or 4 buds from the base. This gives strong canes of about 4 to 5 inches in length. Do not use hard pruning with established bushes because they may not regrow. The only exception is as a final effort to revive sick or neglected bushes. This technique works best with grandiflora, new hybrid tea, and floribunda roses.

Moderate Pruning - cut strong stems back to approximately half of their length. Weaker stems can be cut back even more. This technique works fine with established gardens of hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, and rose standards.

Light Pruning - Cut the canes back to around 2/3 of their length. Any remaining stems can be lightly trimmed back. Light pruning is not generally recommended for most bushes as it tends to produce early blooms and badly developed flowers. Use this technique only if other types of rose bush pruning are failing and the bush looks bad to begin with.

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