ROSE CARE - How to Prune a Rose

Prune to Promote Blooms
Pruning controls the size and shape of rose plants and for modern varieties, keeps them blooming repeatedly all summer long. Well-established hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras should be pruned early each spring after the winter protection has been removed and just as the buds begin to swell.

Old-fashioned roses and climbers that bloom only once a year should be pruned immediately after flowering since they bloom on wood from the previous year's growth. Generous proper pruning creates bigger plants and eventually more flowers per plant. Selective pruning of top growth can produce bigger, but fewer, blooms. Don't be nervous about pruning - there is no evidence that anyone ever killed a plant with pruning shears!

To prune roses you'll need the following supplies: sharp curved-edge pruning shears; long-handled lopping shears; and leather gardening gloves. The diagram above shows the preferred angle to prune.