Winter pruning
Pruning
is very easy. In the UK and other climates with relatively mild winters, January and February is the best time. In regions
with cold winters pruning should be delayed until spring growth is just starting.
On all plants remove very weak,
old and woody, dead and diseased stems
Pruning shrub roses
English Roses and other repeat flowering shrub roses should be cut down by between 1/3 and 2/3 but only thinned
a little.
Bush Roses (hybrid
teas and floribundas) should be cut down by between 3/4 and 1/2 thinning out some of the older main stems.
Non repeating shrubs should be left alone or lightly pruned
by no more than 1/3 and thinned very lightly.
Pruning climbers and ramblers
When pruning climbers, the previous year’s flowering shoots should be reduced to 3 or 4 buds or about
6” (15cms). Tie in the strong, new stems, cutting out older ones as necessary.
Ramblers should be left to
ramble at will. Remove older growth if this becomes too dense. Some varieties of ramblers are extremely vigorous. If your
rose grows too large and needs to be constrained, it may be pruned in the same way as a climber. Very heavy pruning can reduce
the next season's flowering, so when selecting a rambler, always make sure that the rose will not grow too large for the
desired position.
Dead heading
Dead heading is the removal of spent flowers. This helps to encourage better repeat flowering and helps to
keep the plant looking tidy during the summer. It can be quite a relaxing activity during a summer's day. Either just
remove the flower head or cut the stem back to the first full leaf.
Summer pruning English Roses
When growing the English Roses, pruning can be very much an art rather than a science and there are few hard and
fast rules. Although we aim to give accurate sizes for our roses, we find that in practice, a tremendous variation is possible,
especially when dealing with some of the more vigorous roses with potential to climb. These varieties can be pruned almost
as lightly or as hard as is required to keep them to the height and form an individual gardener requires.
Summer
pruning the more vigorous repeat flowering varieties after each flush of flowers can encourage better repeat flowering and
will also limit the height of the rose. To summer prune, simply cut back the flowering stems, leaving two or three buds remaining
on this season's new growth.
