Best time to prune

[Lacey]

When is the best time to prune a rose bush? Does this need to be done each year? I have a rose bush that is huge but not full and I want to cut it back and start over so to speak but everyone I ask about it tells me that is a bad idea. How do I get my rose bush to be full and grow roses? Will pruning help?

 

[firelily99]

I cut my roses way down after it starts to get cold. Don't ask me why, it's something my dad always did! He also covered them with a paper bag and then a plastic grocery bag, covering the base of the bag with soil or mulch. If we had a warm pre - spring he would put a slit in the bags to ventilate. He had fabulous roses so it must have worked!

 

[cmckinney01]

The best time to prune is the fall. I usually wait until after the first frost to do it. When you prune, keep in mind that less is more. So many people cut too much off their plants, and then wonder why they die off. This is a very common mistake. We've all done it. Be sure to take as little off the plant as possible.

 

[gata montes]

Yes pruning will certainly help your rose - especially as pruning is essential - not only for the health of a rose but also for the number of blooms it will produce and should be done at least once every year.
When to prune is very much dependant on what climate you live in but as a general guide - roses are normally pruned in late winter, when they are in their dormant stage which is somewhere between December and February.

There are three types of pruning for rose bushes

Heavy pruning where you take the stems down to around 5" is used to rejuvenate old roses and very young ones to encourage vigorous growth.
Moderate pruning is the one that is most commonly used by all rose growers and is where you cut the whole of the rose back to half its height.
Light pruning is not recommended for any rose as it will result in a weak, spindly bush that hardly flowers and when it does has poor quality blooms.

As I mentioned before - moderate pruning is the most commonly used method by all rose growers and the one that I would recommend to you, but would also add that prior to reducing the overall size you will also need to cut out any dead wood or twiggy growth as well as any cross over stems.
By doing this you will land up with a healthy looking, abundantly flowering rose bush that is sure to be an eye catching sight throughout the year

 

[claudine]

I was told that it's good to prune roses in autumn, right before they go dormant, because this is when they stop growing so quickly. However, I also prune my miniature roses in summer. If I didn't, they would be too tall and they wouldn't develop side branches.

 

[Pat]

I did a moderate pruning of my rose bush as soon as it started to warm up in our area because I forgot to prune it last fall and just got the prettiest blooming of roses. I hope the bush continues to bloom like this all summer. I will trim the blooms to encourage more growth. I should feed the bush, I gave it lots of ground up kitchen waste last summer maybe that helped the blooms, the bush has not looked this good in awhile.