Rose pruning

We have been giving our bush Roses their annual prune this February and March, just as the new shoots start to appear.

The aim of pruning is to have a clear, uncluttered centre, allowing air to circulate around the plant and reducing the chances of fungal diseases.

As our Roses are young we give them a hard prune to encourage them to bush out.

In your garden you will want to cut back your hybrid teas, floribundas and patio roses by roughly a third to a half, although they can be cut harder if they need rejuvenating.

First step is to remove any dead, damaged or weak stems.

If any stems are crossing, choose one to remove to avoid problems of stems rubbing against one another – this can damage the stems, leading to possible infection.

The 'before' photo!

Removing weak shoots

Removing a 'crossing' stem

Pictured above are shoots that are: weak; damaged by rubbing against something; split from the top; weak and dying back. All should be cut back to strong, healthy growth.

---

New growth shoots out in different directions from the stem. Whichever one you cut above will determine the direction the new stem will grow. We are cutting above a leftward shoot; the right facing shoot would grow into the other stem causing congestion and rubbing.

---

Look for strong new shoots and cut just above these.

New growth will be in the direction the new shoot is facing, so always try to cut above outward facing buds: you are trying to keep the centre of the plant clear!

As a finishing touch treat your Rose to a feed of manure or other fertiliser.

The 'after' photo!

Note how all the top new shoots are facing away from each other

See our video guide here.

Click through to our main Roses page