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Roses, with their stunning range of colours, sizes and shapes, steal the heart of any flower enthusiast, but maintaining a host of flourishing roses does put gardeners through their paces.
Crucial to the health and beauty of these blooms is the art of pruning. Fear not if you’re nervous about making cuts even the clumsiest of chops often heal in time, as these hardy shrubs are known for their resilience.
Feeling uncertain about pruning, green-fingered Emma Sandford sought guidance on the Gardening UK Facebook group, asking: “When should I prune my roses? They have gone horrible with the weather and need cutting right back.”
The query quickly gathered over 80 responses, with a consensus budding around postponing the trim until the late winter season.
Joining the virtual chit-chat was Sarah Anne who shared: “I gave mine a really good prune in February and they are the best they’ve ever been! Only had to deadhead them this year.”
Chiming in with his own piece of advice, Richard Weaving suggested: “Light trim any time. As far as pruning goes though, wait until February. Certainly don’t be trimming in summer.”
Meanwhile, Rachel Ellis said: “[The] best tip I had for my roses was to cut them back to where you count five leaves. Don’t know why but mine have been shooting out lots of new buds since I’ve been doing this.”
Shannon Fields proclaimed: “The best time to prune them is in February. My roses have been flowering like crazy since pruning them.”
Jasmine Bartlett shared her own gardening miracle, stating: “My roses were awful and woody. I wanted to dig them out but they were too well planted so I cut them off level with the ground around February/March time.
“To my surprise, they grew back again with young strong stems and flowered beautifully with amazing blooms. Only took two minutes.”
Mark Wilson pitched in with his advice, noting: “It’s a bit early here in the UK, yet I’m still deadheading. I would wait until October then reduce by half and tidy and then again in February time.”
Fiona Mitchell gave a step-by-step guide, revealing: “The first pruning period is in the late autumn, just when growth has stopped and the second pruning period is in late winter/early spring – just before the new growth starts.”
“If you cut back your rose bush quite hard in early spring, this will force it to send out new shoots (branches).”
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) mirror this sentiment, affirming that roses should be snipped back during late winter as the plants stir back to life, “usually mid-February in the south, but in northern and colder areas wait until March”.
In the meantime, those with a liking for pruning can keep themselves busy by deadheading their beloved rose bushes in the summer following the blooms. Deadheading involves the tactful removal of wilted blossoms to convince the rose to concentrate on producing more flowers.
