Pruning roses: how to do it properly

- the right pruning for abundant blooms and an attractive shape

Shrub roses need to be cut back (like all woody plants) so that they grow into bushy, attractive shrubs. 

In this guide we explain when and how far you should prune above all most repeat-flowering varieties.

Since the right pruning differs between the individual rose classes, we distinguish between repeat-flowering shrub roses and once-flowering shrub roses.
Climbing roses and ramblers are pruned differently and are therefore left out of this page.

A single cut back per year is usually not enough: besides the spring pruning, summer pruning is also an important part of rose care.

You should have the following tools to hand:

- ergonomic rose secateurs
- a sturdier branch lopper 
- gardening gloves

Contents:

Spring pruning of roses

• Pruning repeat-flowering roses in spring
• Pruning once-flowering roses in spring
• Rejuvenation pruning

Summer pruning of roses

• Pruning repeat-flowering roses in summer
• Pruning once-flowering roses in summer

Cutting thick new shoots
What to do with the clippings?

Cutting back in spring is both the most important and the most drastic pruning of the rose year. 

Timing:
The right time to prune your roses in spring is before or shortly after the growing season begins.

A good indicator is the flowering of the forsythia and the slight swelling of the buds that have been dormant over winter.

Why you should prune:
The shrub rose should branch out more, develop or keep an attractive shape and not become bare at the base.

Of course, this is also the time to remove parts that have frozen over winter and any rose hips that are still on the plant.
Besides the cut back, which stimulates fresh growth, the rose is thus also tidied up.

While you are at it:
At the same time you should clear old foliage from last year off the ground, to prevent fungal spores in it from transferring early to the fresh growth that is about to appear.
You can apply the starter fertiliser in spring together with the pruning work - for once-flowering varieties too.
If your roses are still earthed up as winter protection, remove the soil (before pruning).
Planting new bare-root roses and container roses or replacing specimens that froze over winter is also possible now.

What you should not do (yet):
Preventive treatment against fungal diseases and pests makes no sense at this point, that is, before growth begins.
Transplanting or moving roses is not recommended in spring; autumn is the better time. 

Above all bedding roses, patio shrub roses, hybrid teas and roses planted the previous year are cut back to 30-50 cm above the ground.

For park and shrub roses that grow larger and already have a nice shape, the cut is made higher; only about 1/3 is taken off from the top.

In general it is best to prune by feel. Imagine what will happen when the two buds below the cut start to grow.
In doing so you should of course take into account your own experience with each rose and the growth to be expected in the garden year ahead. 
Over the years you develop a feel for how hard each of your roses should be cut back.

Once-flowering varieties bloom mainly on old wood, that is, on the previous year's growth.

You can surely imagine what happens if you shorten them in spring as just described:
Only very few flowers would remain on the shoots that were not cut. 

The main pruning therefore takes place in summer after flowering - unless you want or need to rejuvenate.

Everyone knows the sad picture: the once magnificent rose bush loses more and more of its abundance of flowers over the years and becomes unsightly in the lower part - the rose is ageing or has become bare.

One of the main reasons for this, unless it is a completely neglected rose that is to be given new life, is wrong or missing pruning.

What helps is rejuvenation, that is, an almost complete rebuilding from the base. As far as its growth above ground is concerned, the rose is more or less 'reset'.

Essentially this consists of a radical, almost brutal spring pruning that goes deep into the strong, woody, multi-year shoots. Depending on the size of the rose, the cut is made between 20 and 50 cm above the graft union, but in any case in the lower third of the shrub.

With repeat-flowering shrub roses the effects are moderate - apart from the reduced dimensions of the rose. The abundance of flowers may be somewhat weaker in the first year, but will be back where you expect it. 

For once-flowering roses, however, the price can be quite high. Since the strong cut removes almost all of the previous year's wood, you must expect that no flowers will form in the year of the cut. In the following years they too will certainly thank you - provided the pruning is done correctly. Courageous rose gardeners therefore sometimes rejuvenate non-remontant roses after flowering in summer, but run the risk that the rose either does not sprout again at all or freezes back somewhat more in the coming winter because the new growth had not ripened sufficiently.

Depending on the condition of the plant, partial rejuvenation can also be considered, that is, removing individual strongly lignified shoots - also over several consecutive years. 

In any case, with such a measure you should also ensure an adequate supply of nutrients for the rebuilding. 

If you have done everything right, your roses will delight you in June with rich, colourful blooms. 

Probably far too many rose lovers now lean back, watch the much weaker second flush for the rest of the rose year and let the work in the rose garden rest until autumn. After all, the work in spring has paid off through the lavish main flowering.

Especially with many repeat-flowering varieties, however, a lot of the potential the plants actually have remains unused. 

While you are at it:
After the first flowering period it is also time for the one-off summer fertilising.
At the end of July you can apply potassium sulphate (Patentkali), which promotes the ripening of the shoots and thus winter hardiness.

You encourage the formation of new flowers by cutting the old flowers off one to two leaf axils below them. 

By removing them, the second flush comes much faster and is much more lavish.
Because the rose does not have to form rose hips, more energy remains for new flowers. 

Of course this also applies to further flowers formed over the summer.

A somewhat more radical summer pruning, in some cases down to half of the plant, can also lead to a stronger second flush in some rose varieties. However, we advise against this, especially for well-established larger shrub roses. For bedding roses, hybrid teas and patio shrub roses or newly planted roses it may be beneficial, but this approach increases the risk that too much new growth will not ripen fully before winter and will freeze. 

For these specimens, which are mainly old roses, the right time for the cut back is shortly after flowering, to encourage new growth and keep the plant in shape.

The procedure essentially corresponds to that described for the repeat-flowering roses in spring. 

Because of the later timing you allow flowering on the previous year's growth, and the new substance added after the cut forms the basis for rich flowering in the following year. Remove old flowers only on varieties that do not bear rose hips, or if the hips are not wanted.

Many know it: near the base, thumb-thick, mostly reddish, strong shoots appear, growing at great speed and often rising above the actual height of the shrub.

Especially when these appear before or during the first flowering period, the initial joy at the healthy, strongly growing rose bush is often followed by the question of whether to remove these shoots after all - also because the overall appearance of the carefully shaped rose can suffer. 

The answer is actually quite simple, but depends on the timing: 
Before or during the first flowering you can and should cut out such occasional vegetative shoots well below the rest of the shrub.

The energy the rose puts into them is better spent elsewhere during the summer, for example on forming new flowers.

From July (or shortly after the main flowering) it is almost certainly the normal growth that is important for the coming year. This should be left untouched, and adjusted to the rest of the shrub's appearance as part of the regular shaping cut. You can also tell by the fact that it is usually not single shoots but several.

The clippings produced when pruning roses should always be disposed of in the household waste or at a local green waste site. They do not belong in the compost that you spread in your garden again.

The leaves on the clippings can still carry fungal spores - especially in autumn and spring - which also multiply in the compost. You certainly do not want these in your garden, let alone to cultivate them and spread them again. Disposal elsewhere is therefore an important measure that you should definitely take.

Climbing roses, especially the repeat-flowering varieties among them, are becoming ever more popular. 

After 2-3 years at the latest, however, the rose lover faces the question of whether, and above all how, to prune the by now quite tall climbing rose. Climbing roses that have not been pruned for many years also reliably tend to become bare at the base (more on that later).

Once the latter situation arises, one thing is clear:
Even if it looks unpleasant - a climbing rose needs a certain amount of care in the form of regular pruning.

Contents:

Pruning climbing roses in spring

Summer pruning of a climbing rose

Shaping cut - the main pruning

When the climbing rose becomes bare:
rejuvenation pruning

These pruning recommendations always assume that you can still reach the relevant parts of the climbing rose to be pruned without risk to life and limb. Depending on the case, a ladder, scaffolding or even a work platform may be appropriate - or professional help.

For all work you should also pay attention to pruning hygiene: if you cut into diseased wood, the shears should be disinfected immediately afterwards. This also applies to larger loppers.

In early spring, before the climbing rose starts to shoot, or shortly after it has begun, we recommend cutting out parts that have dried up or frozen over the winter as well as dead or diseased wood. 

If the shaping cut was already done in autumn, corrections, curbing unwanted new long shoots or a light follow-up cut are possible.

If you have decided to do the rough pruning of your climbing roses in spring, then get started.

Often neglected, but important especially when the climbing rose sets another bloom in early summer: 

after flowering, cut 2-3 buds below the base of the flower. Depending on the variety, whole flower clusters or single flowers. This gives the rose strength to go 'into the next round', so to speak, instead of putting it into forming rose hips. 

A moderate application of rose fertiliser can also encourage a lush second bloom.

Early spring or already autumn (after the end of the growing phase) is the right time for the shaping cut. In any case it should be done before the rose begins to shoot strongly or shortly afterwards.
If you already prune in autumn, you should leave some reserve for possible frost dieback over the winter. That means in autumn you do not cut back quite as far, and corrections may be needed in spring.

The shaping cut is the main pruning of your climbing roses. It does not necessarily have to be equally hard every year - you actually have the whole summer and, if need be, the winter to decide whether and how hard your climbing rose has to be cut into shape.

before you start cutting back:

A strong pair of loppers, hard-wearing clothing and some time are certainly no mistake. 

Also think about how much clippings will accumulate, and how and where you will dispose of them.  

The actual pruning is quite simple,
it is advisable to proceed in this order:

- first of all, cut out quite radically everything that does not suit you. That is, shoots that simply grow in the wrong direction for the desired shape, criss-cross inwards or just unsuitably. Sometimes shortening is enough to bring the rose back within its bounds. 

In doing so you should also bear in mind the growth to be expected until the next bloom - so cut back somewhat further than seems sensible at the present time. 

Over the years you will gain some experience of how far each of your climbing roses must be cut back so that it has the desired shape during flowering.

Which shoots are shortened and by how much also depends very much on how the climbing rose is used - a rose fanned out on a house wall or trellis is of course treated differently from one on an obelisk or rose arch.

- after that, tackle all the shoots that are relatively weak. These will very certainly not contribute to a balanced overall picture and only needlessly take up energy.

You may also want to leave this work to a professional. In any case, discuss with them beforehand exactly what the aim of the job is, and make sure that they also have some expertise with roses. 

A climbing rose really knows only one direction of growth - straight up. After the end of the growing period, in the following spring, growth - and with it the development of the floral splendour - continues where it ended the previous year. 

Even if a climbing rose could not reach the same height as a rambler might, in the end it will nevertheless be the case that a large part of the floral splendour is out of reach of your own nose. The sight is also not exactly what one had imagined. And there is no talking one's way around it any more: the climbing rose has become bare.

If it has already come to this, only a radical rejuvenation pruning helps - which is not necessarily for the faint-hearted. 
If you want to forestall the need for one, there is also a somewhat milder variant, which is likewise described.

The right time for it is from late autumn, when the rose has stopped growing, until early spring before new growth. You should on no account make such a severe cut while the climbing rose is growing or even in flower.

As for tools, you absolutely need strong loppers able to cut cleanly through the thickest shoot on your plant.

Yes, you read that correctly - at least one of the sometimes arm-thick main shoots (also: leading shoots) is on the chopping block.

It should also be clear that a great deal of clippings will result - namely everything that has grown on the shoots that are removed. That can easily be more than you can comfortably tuck under your arm - and covered in thorns on top of that. Cut-resistant gloves, clothing and a well thought-out plan for how to haul it away are strongly recommended.

Hence another reminder: there is still the option of commissioning someone who has the appropriate equipment and transport capacity.

And this is what the rejuvenation pruning looks like in detail: 

- look at the rose and its structure as a whole. If necessary, first make a somewhat stronger shaping cut to get an overview of the structure of the leading shoots. 

- identify the shoots on which the framework of the climbing rose rests. These are usually 3-6 very strong shoots that go very high before branching into good thumb-thick side shoots - on which the flowers then appear. 

- accept that at most 2 or 3 of these leading shoots will remain - or at most 1/3 of the total number. Decide which on the basis of which of them have grown in places where you like them, their condition, popularity with birds for nest building or similar criteria. The very determined can also remove all strong leading shoots and so rebuild the climbing rose completely. 

- now remove these one after the other, if necessary in several steps from the top. In the end, between 40 cm and 1-2 m (depending on height) should be left standing above the ground. Always keep the overall picture in view, which means that very probably not all of these leading shoots will be shortened to the same height. Usually somewhat more is left standing in the middle, while those growing more to the side are taken down further. Depending on the degree of bareness, individual side shoots that have grown out of the main shoot can also be left. You shorten these as well according to aesthetic considerations. 

That is actually all there is to it ... 

The somewhat milder version of the rejuvenation pruning is to take out one of the leading shoots every 3-4 years as part of the shaping cut, thus constantly ensuring fresh growth from the base. Anyone who has ever had to radically rejuvenate a well-established, bare climbing rose will certainly prefer this approach.

After you have put your climbing rose under heavy strain with this very radical cut, however, some aftercare is advisable:

- on very, very thick shoots the cut surface can be sealed with tree wax - especially if larger amounts of sap emerge there

- if you have pruned in autumn or winter, it can make sense to mound up much more/higher 

- the rose will need more strength and resources at the following shoot, so make sure it is well supplied by giving organic rose fertiliser, perhaps in combination with a soil activator. 
(if you prune in spring, suitable provision can already be made in the autumn before ...)

- last but not least, water thoroughly straight after the cut

We wish you every success and the necessary courage and look forward to your feedback - perhaps in the garden and rose forum.

We would be especially pleased to receive pictures to illustrate this pruning guide by e-mail.