Rose Pruning

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service believes that roses truly benefit from a proper, purposeful pruning. Pruning keeps the plant healthy, promotes growth, removes dead or diseased branches (canes) and helps to maintain the desired shape.

Cutting off healthy canes seems to be counterintuitive, and the risk of damaging or killing a valued plant looms large. Roses are hardy plants, and there are definite benefits for the plant through the pruning process. Pruning a rose (or another other plant) encourages blooming and new growth and ensures a healthy plant.

Major pruning to comply with encouraging blooming and new growth should be done in the late winter/ early spring. As a rule of thumb and to make it easy to remember, I associate this type of pruning with Valentine’s Day. I tend to think of roses and Valentine’s as an inseparable set. Dead, damaged or diseased wood removal will enhance the health of the plant, improve air circulation and increase the light exposure to the inner parts of the plant. These factors reduce the chances of the plants getting black spot.

Each type of rose has some specific pruning requirements so checking a good rose reference guide will be helpful. Deadheading can be considered as a type of pruning and involves removal of spent blooms during the growing season which encourages further blooming. Deadheading, however, will remove the hips (the fruit of the plant) which may be desirable for the late-season display. Light cosmetic pruning can be carried out at any time of the year and is intended to make small refinements and remove dead or diseased branches as they appear.

Hard pruning is usually reserved for periods when the plant is dormant. In general, once-blooming roses should be pruned after blooming whereas repeat-bloomers produce buds on old wood. In order to prune roses, use clean, sharp bypass pruners – pruners that cut like scissors. Never use anvil-type pruners on live branches. They have flat edges that crush and damage living stems.

Cleaning the pruners between plants inhibits the spread of disease. Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University indicates that research has shown that a common household cleaner such as Lysol works better for disinfecting tools than alcohol or bleach solutions. Spray the blades with disinfectant and wipe them with a cloth or thin scrub pad. I like to use the thin scrub pads because they can clean the blades of sap as the disinfectant works.

Canes larger than one-half inch in diameter may require long handled loppers and canes larger than one inch may be best cut with a saw. Pruning should always include the removal of dead or damaged canes as well as those that cross another branch. Crossing canes can rub together causing damage and provide entry for diseases. Prune so that the center of the bush is opened to the air and sun. The final result should resemble an open vase shape.

Healthy canes will have white pith (center of the cane). If the pith does not look healthy, prune back until it does. Make cuts approximately one inch below any dead area. The usual recommendation for healthy canes is to make the cuts approximately one-fourth inch above an outward facing bud and should be made at a 45-degree angle sloping away from the bud. Recent research has shown that it may be better to cut the branch straight across. If suckers sprout from below the graft, they should be removed as they occur. Cut them as close to the graft as possible. The final product of pruning bush roses should be approximately an eighteen-inch tall plant.