Rose Pruning In Spring

• Pruning in Spring will generate good growth and flowering later in the year.
• To avoid weak stems prune hard leaving about 12″ on tall Old Fashioned or HT roses and 6″ in short roses. Cut out all spindly growth and very thin stems.
• Prune in spring to encourage strong stems in an open cup shape of branches.
• Prune at 45° slopping away from an outward-facing bud.
• Use good sharp tools it makes rose pruning easier
• Feel free to reshape your roses at anytime as you would other plants. Roses want to grow and produce seeds via flowers and they will benefit from deadheading and judicious trimming.
• Water, feed and mulch after pruning.

See how the experts prune:


Rose Snip Tips in Spring

• The Bourbon type rose De la Maitre-Ecole above will have a fantastic scent when in bloom during mid-summer if you care for it from spring.
• Fertilize with rose fertilizer that has equal amounts of NPK plus trace elements.
• Mulch new and young plants with well rotted compost or bark not grass clippings.
• If planting new roses some people put a banana skin at the bottom of the hole for extra potassium but I would be happy with bone meal.
• New trees need watering particularly if there is a dry spring.
• Spray with a fungicide in March or April
• Give roses space to develop but you can under plant with small bulbs or violets


Other Resources
25 Types of Rose

Photo Credits
from Getrud K CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 source
our roses by EssjayNZ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Snip away at your roses in spring before Easter and the new stems and leaves will help produce some great summer flowers. For big flowers on HT roses dis-bud so just one good one is allowed to flower per stem and you will be rewarded by potentially growing the ‘best in show’.