Spring Rose Pruning

  

Late April into May is the time to prune your roses. This year, many of our roses have already broken dormancy and while we’ll still get some temperature fluctuations, now's the time to inspect your roses to see how they fared through the winter and to get them ready for the new season.

Start by gathering your tools. You'll need garden scissors, a good pair of bypass pruners, a set of loppers for large canes and sturdy gloves.

Next, remove the rose collar from the base of the rose and start pulling back the mulch. It’s best to remove mulch gradually over the course of several days. This will allow the rose to adjust to the change in soil temperature.

You’ll notice many spring weeds such as dandelion and wild lettuce have taken advantage of the mulch to set down roots of their own. Remove these before you go any further.

The same is true for any leaves or rose hips that may have wintered over. Black Spot and other diseases can winter over in this debris. A good cleanup now will help keep your roses healthy through the growing season.

Start your actual spring pruning by removing any dead, diseased or damaged canes. Use your bypass pruners on medium sized canes. A long-handled lopper makes easy work of larger canes. Next, open up the rose bush to light and improve air circulation by removing any canes that cross in the center. After all the dead, diseased, broken and crossed canes have been removed, you're ready to prune for shape and bloom production. The rule of thumb is to prune canes down until you reach green wood, then cut one inch deeper. 

Using a sharp bypass pruner, select an outward facing bud eye and cut the cane about one quarter inch above the bud eye. The bud eye may be active or dormant.  Pruning cuts made this way will keep the rose bush growing outward.  Use your garden scissors to remove any small, twiggy stems and rose hips from last season. Mini-roses grow on their own roots. This is the time of year to remove all winterkill down to healthy wood. Climbing roses have two types of stems, the main climbing canes and the lateral shoots, which come off the main canes. The lateral shoots are the ones that produce flowers. Start by removing any dead or damaged canes, then cut back the remaining canes a foot or so.

After pruning your rose bushes, fertilize them with Fertilome Rose Food or Mile High Rose Food. This first feeding should be done in mid to late May. Finally, don't avoid pruning because you're worried about making a mistake.

Roses need to be pruned in the spring in order to do their best. As long as your roses are healthy, well-watered and fed, they’ll bounce back fine from one or two bad pruning cuts.  If you have questions about pruning roses, stop in. We'll help you.