Pruning Old Fashioned Roses

The following guidelines are offered as suggestions for pruning old roses. Those who have more experience may have other techniques which work well for them and may work better than those listed below. Such is the joy of gardening and other leisure pursuits, your experience is different from mine but both are a pleasure and neither is incorrect.

6 points to remember about pruning:
 

1. For pruning roses (and everything else) we use bypass pruners as they make cleaner cuts than anvil pruners. Buy yourself a high quality pruner as it makes the task much easier. (I’ve used the same Felco pruners for 12 years and have only replaced the spring once.)

2. Severely pruning once-blooming varieties in spring (before they bloom) will sacrifice bloom in the season.

3. SOMETIMES a VERY HARD pruning will restore a weakened plant.

4. A rose that is pruned with care each season will perform better in every way than a rose that is allowed to grow on its own for several seasons without attention.

5. Though we’ve tried to be vague with regards to the absolute date for pruning roses remember the hardiness zone you live in will affect the growth characteristics of your roses. We are located in zone 5b (USDA), you may want to consult a rosarian in your area for more specific suggestions.

6. If you cut something off that you wish you hadn’t remember - IT WILL GROW BACK PRETTY SOON, DON’T FRET ABOUT IT

For all roses in general:

To start each season remove any dead, damaged, diseased, broken, weak, or spindly growth. You can do this anytime you notice suspect canes throughout the season too. Always cut back to just above an outward facing bud, you don’t want to promote the growth of branches that will cross or interfere with other branches. Always make your cuts angled with the direction of growth of the bud you are cutting back to.

For specific types of roses (*these are suggestions NOT rules)

 

HT, Grandiflora, Floribunda, Polyantha, Miniature and Hybrid Perpetual

In our area it is advisable to prune modern roses in the spring. Remove all the canes except the largest and healthiest. Cut them back to 3 or 4 good buds, or about 4-6”. Sometimes after a mild winter the canes of these cultivars may be green most of their length. It is still advisable to prune them back to maintain a nicely shaped plant. Hybrid Perpetuals, if not pruned yearly quickly become lanky and bloom production is reduced.

Prune after blooms are all finished. To encourage new growth shorten old branches by about ¼ of their length and shorten any long or lanky canes by 1/3.

Most varieties require only light pruning. After the first flush of blooms prune the plant to maintain or improve the shape. For climbing varieties see suggestions for climbers & ramblers.

Prune after blooms are all finished. Shorten new canes to about ½ their length and shorten any long or lanky canes by 1/3.

Prune hard to about 6” in early spring to encourage new growth leaving only the most vigorous canes. In warmer climates a light pruning to shape the plant will suffice. 

Climbers should not be pruned in their first or second year in the garden aside from removal of dead, damaged, diseased, broken, weak, or spindly growth. You must begin training the 3 main canes as soon as they reach up to the support structure. Once the growth has reached the structure train the branches horizontally to encourage the growth of bloom producing side shoots. After the second season one should remove canes that are crossing other main canes and downward growing side shoots. It is also advisable to cut back the length of main canes by about ¼ to encourage new flower producing growth.  As the rose grows and gets taller it may become difficult to prune so thoroughly. However, if you can find a way to do it your efforts will be rewarded. Care must be taken when pruning Climbing sports of bush varieties so as not to cause the variety to revert back to bush form.  

Ramblers are more vigorous growing than climbers and therefore require a different approach. Prune non-recurrent ramblers in summer after they have bloomed. For the first couple of seasons prune all side shoots from the main branches to encourage vigour. These canes should be trained horizontally (as with climbers) to encourage bloom producing side shoots.  After the first couple years and the plant is established remove some of the old growth leaving the most vigorous canes. Train some of the new, fresh growth to fill in the gaps left by removal of the old wood. As ramblers produce an abundance of new shoots from the union it is suggested that one remove the majority of those as they are produced to ensure that the nutrients go to producing growth and bloom where it is most desired. 

Once blooming – Prune after the blooms are finished. Remove some old wood to encourage fresh growth and prune to shape.

Repeat blooming & Portlands – Prune in early spring. Select the strongest most vigorous growth and prune it to about 1/3 of its length. Remove all dead, damaged, diseased, broken, weak, or spindly growth. 

Prune after the blooms are finished. Remove some old wood to encourage fresh growth and prune to shape. The removal of side shoots and the shortening of canes can encourage some Gallicas to “stiffen up” as they grow older and not be so lax. 

As Hybrid Musks bloom on new and old wood you can prune liberally in early spring to encourage new growth. Remove twiggy growth and very old canes and shorten the length of all the canes by 1/3.

Once blooming varieties – Prune after spring bloom is finished. Shorted long new growth by ½, remove spindly new growth.

Repeat blooming varieties – Prune in early spring. Shorten old growth by about ½ and thin out the branches if there are a lot of them.  

Noisette grow late in the season so there is likely to be quite a bid of dead wood to remove. Cut back the entire plant by about ¼ and remove spindly and twiggy growth. 

Rugosas don’t require much pruning except to shape the plant or removal of suspect canes.  

Prune shrubs in early spring. Remove weak growth and shorten long canes by about ½.

Prune after the spring bloom season has passed. Prune these only to maintain a size or shape and to encourage new growth. The more branches on these plants the more the bloom they will produce.

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