Roses, when to Prune

[yotetrapper]

I live in west central IL and was wondering what month to prune in, and how much do I take off? Are all types of roses the same? I have a hybrid tea rose, and some sort of bushy looking rose (lol).

 

[Rosalind]

I usually do mine in November or thereabouts, just before I wrap them up and mulch them for winter.

How much you take off is sort of determined by other stuff: How big you want the rose to get, what shape you want it to be, how vigorous it is, how sensitive it is to freezing. For a hybrid tea, you should prune it pretty far back, making sure there is a bud/leaf node on the end it can grow out of next spring--a little lower than knee-high, which is, what, 12"? Then you cover all that's left of it in a heavy layer of mulch or straw. I like to leave a slightly longer stem on, about 24", but then I wrap them in two layers of burlap and a bunch of straw. Also I can count on snow covering them reasonably well, prevents them from getting windburned and gets them an early start in spring.

Rugosa roses and climbing roses are different. I've never had to do anything to a rugosa rose, they always took care of themselves. Climbing roses are protected by a wall, so they just get a layer of straw and their tips clipped back to the top of the wall, and they seem to do OK.

 

[silkiechicken]

I really don't know how or when to prune... but I just chop back parts that don't look healthy or parts that are getting weak. I do this in the fall, about November too, when ever the ground crews prune the thousand or so rose plants on campus. They haven't died on me yet. Oh, yeah, I do make sure when I cut the branches, it is a horizontal clean cut just above a healthy looking bud. If It isn't a clean cut, I go to the next bud down.

 

[Rosalind]

One more thing--most roses are grafted onto a stronger rootstock.

You want to be very very careful to make sure you are not pruning out all the graft. Look for where the graft union is (it will be like a callus or scar on the main stems) and be sure to cut well above that. Usually this is not a problem and the graft union is only a few inches above the soil line, but I have gotten roses with freakin' huge rootstocks on them, and had problems with the rootstocks sprouting and flowering. So if you have, say, one plant that has exactly the right kind of rose on one stem and some strange-looking thing on another stem, you can cut the strange-looking thing all the way back whenever you see it.

 

[Buff Shallots]

Double on everything Rosalind says.

If you're itching to prune now, just cut back anything that looks like it died off (i.e. black stem parts).

 

[Gindee77]

I live in the Quad Cities (Illinois side) and I prune my 150+ roses after tax time (April 15th)! That would be about now!! I'm about to start getting to it soon. My hands hurt just thinking about it...LOL!

You shouldn't prune roses in our area in the fall. Altho I do know a few people who do. Pruning stimulates growth and you don't want them growing in the fall!!

 

[PennyinOk]

I pruned my roses about two weeks ago and they are doing real well I always prune in early spring.