When to prune your rose bushes

Question: Dear Master Gardeners, when is a good time to prune my rose bushes?

Answer: A good rule of thumb for pruning is Presidents Day, which usually falls around the third week of February and up until early March.

Depending on which variety of rose you have, hybrid tea, grandiflora or floribunda, they are not pruned the same. Roses are best pruned to an open center to maximize access to light and to make sure good air circulation to dry the leaves after spring rainstorms. To encourage outward growth, prune the canes about one-eighth to one-quarter inch above an outward facing bud somewhere in the range of 12 to 24 inches from the ground (depending on type).

Most roses are grafted, so varieties that are prized for their color or fragrance are grafted onto a rootstock that imparts characteristics such as vigor or disease resistance. It is important to remove any canes originating below the graft union because these canes are part of the rootstock and generally have undesirable flowers compared to the named variety above the graft union. When pruning, remove any spindly canes that are smaller than the diameter of a pencil. Also, remove any very old or discolored canes.

When you finish pruning you should have about 3 to 5 canes per rose bush. To learn more about pruning, visit https://extension.oregonstate.edu, and for more information on rose diseases and management, visit https://utia.tennessee.edu publication number W 833.

Thank you for your question, and Happy Gardening!

Send questions to rheacomg@gmail.com or write to Rhea County Extension Office c/o Master Gardeners, 125 Court Street, Suite 3, Dayton, TN, 37321.