Hardly any garden question causes as much uncertainty as rose pruning. Yet it is not hard once you have understood one thing: it depends on the rose type. A bedding rose wants something completely different from a climbing rose, and whoever prunes both the same makes a mistake with one of them for sure.
Three groups you must distinguish: bedding roses, shrub roses and climbing roses. This article shows you for each how and when to prune, and which natural signal tells you the right time.
The signal: forsythia bloom
The most important spring cut takes place when the forsythia blooms, usually between weeks 12 and 16. This phenological rule of thumb is more reliable than any calendar date, because it adjusts to the actual weather year after year. When the forsythia blooms, the hardest bare frost is over and the rose will soon shoot.
For every cut the rule is: cut with sharp, clean secateurs just above an outward-facing bud, at a slight angle. That way the new shoot grows outward and the plant stays airy.
Each type wants its own cut
Rose pruning by type
- Bedding roses: hard back
Bedding and hybrid tea roses you cut back hard in spring, to three to five buds, about a hand's width above the ground. The hard cut brings many fresh shoots and rich bloom.
- Shrub roses: thin out
Shrub roses stay large and are only thinned out: old, dead and crossing wood out, the rest stays. Too hard a cut costs the bloom here.
- Climbing roses: keep the framework
With climbing roses the long main shoots stay as a framework. You only shorten the side shoots to a few buds, because the flowers form on them.
- Repeat or once flowering
Repeat-flowering roses you prune in spring, once-flowering climbers and ramblers only after flowering in summer, because they bloom on one-year-old wood.
Autumn calls for caution
In autumn you do not prune, at most relieve. Before winter only shorten overlong shoots that would whip about in a storm and loosen the plant. The actual cut is reserved for spring.
The reason: an autumn cut drives the rose to late shoots that then freeze, and open cuts are a gateway for frost and fungi. Whoever cuts radically in autumn weakens their roses.
The type decides: bedding roses hard back, shrub and climbing roses only thinned. And prune in spring when the forsythia blooms, not in autumn.
The core rule for rose pruning
Frequently asked questions
When do you prune roses?
The main cut is in spring, when the forsythia blooms, usually weeks 12 to 16. By then the hardest frost is over. In autumn you do not prune, only shorten overlong shoots before winter.
How do you prune bedding roses correctly?
Cut bedding and hybrid tea roses back hard in spring to three to five buds, about a hand's width above the ground. Always just above an outward-facing bud. The hard cut brings many fresh, flower-rich shoots.
Do you prune climbing roses differently from bedding roses?
Yes, completely differently. With climbing roses the long main shoots stay as a framework, you only shorten the side shoots to a few buds. A hard cut like on bedding roses would cost the climbing rose its bloom.
Why should you not prune roses in autumn?
Because an autumn cut drives late shoots that then freeze, and open wounds are a gateway for frost and fungi. In autumn only shorten overlong shoots that loosen the plant in a storm. The cut is reserved for spring.
How do I tell which rose type I have?
By growth and bloom: bedding roses stay low and bloom in clusters, shrub roses grow large and wide, climbing roses form long shoots to tie in. Repeat-flowering ones bloom all summer, once-flowering ones only once but strongly.
