To help make sure your garden looks its best next year, winter is usually the optimum time to prune roses. Pruning should be carried out once a year to keep rose plants flourishing, and ensure new blooms are encouraged to grow.
When should you prune roses?
Winter is regarded as the best season to prune most types of roses, so you may be able to prune roses in November or December.
However Gardeners’ World state rambling roses should be pruned in the summer, immediately after they have flowered.
February to March is considered a good time for pruning roses, but optimum pruning time will depend on what variety of rose you are growing.
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When pruning roses you want to aim for stems to have space, as this encourages air circulation.
You should also trace suckers back to the roots as part of the pruning process and pull them away.
If there are no new buds on old wood, and there isn’t a good chance of any new buds developing, you may want to saw it.
The RHS adds: “On established roses, cut out poorly flowering old wood and saw away old stubs that have failed to produce new shoots.”
When pruning roses, make sure you have the right equipment for the job.
You may need secateurs, pruning shears, loppers and a pruning saw.
You may want to consider a good pair of gloves suited to this purpose, to protect your forearms from thorns.
Long thick sleeves designed for gardening can also help to protect your arms, and you should consider other protections like eyewear, a hat and jacket.