It’s hard to kill a rose with pruning
Don’t be intimidated by hard pruning rose bushes in early Spring. For a home gardener who simply wants beautiful, rose bushes, there are really only a few fundamentals to follow. You’ll be surprised to learn that modern roses don’t need as much Spring pruning as you think.
If you follow a few simple rules, the results will result in a healthy, and vigorous plant.
“Modern rose bushes are both beautiful and tough in a wide range of growing conditions, so they are easier to grow than ever before”
Follow these steps so your roses will thrive
1. Remove all remaining leaves.
This allows you to see the structure of the bush and clearly see all the canes (stems). This step also removes any pests or diseases that may have been hiding over winter in the foliage. An expanding rake helps here for access.
2. Start with dead wood.
How do you know it’s dead? Cut into it — brown is dead, green is living. Cut any dead wood back to the base.When pruning roses, your goal should be to open up the center and create a vase-like shape.
3. Open up the center of the plant.
Take out crossing branches which can rub, causing damage and encouraging disease. The goal is to have upward-reaching branches with an open structure in a vase-like shape.
4. Remove any thin, weak growth.
The basic rule of thumb is to remove anything thinner than a pencil.
5. Prune the remaining canes.
Prune by cutting 1/4” to 1/2” above an outward-facing bud eye (a small bump found where a leaf would meet the stem).
New stems grow in the direction of the bud and the goal is to encourage them to grow outward, not inward. Make cuts at a 45-degree angle sloping away from the bud, allowing water to run off.
6. Seal fresh cuts.
As an extra precaution, you can protect freshly cut canes from rot and rose borers by sealing the wounds with a compound like Bonide Garden’s Rich Pruning Sealer. If you trim on a sunny day or two, this is less needed since the hard-over of the cut will occur quickly.
7. Clean up.
After pruning, make sure to clean up the surrounding area underneath. All leaves and cut branches should be re-cut and disposed of as trash, as diseases and pests could be lurking.
No composting – straight to the trash can.
8. Feed your roses.
Roses are “big eaters” and need proper nutrition even in early Spring for their rooting system, so feed them through the soil with fertilizer like Miracle-Gro, Miracle-Gro for Roses, or Jobes Spikes for roses.
Do not fertilize any new plants until the growth is 4 to 6 inches long. Using a balanced fertilizer, begin feeding in half the strength recommended on the package label. As the plant matures, you can increase the level to full strength.
More on rose fertilizer here: Best Fertilizers for Roses
If you’ve been afraid to start a rose garden, the truth is, roses are no more difficult to care for than other flowering shrubs, like rhodys or hydrangeas.
For more about roses in the garden, check out these other Rose Posts.
Sources: ARS, Wikipedia, Miracle-Gro, Weeks Roses, Bonide, Home Depot,
