Additional pruning tips for healthy, beautiful, productive roses:
- Whether you're deadheading, removing dead wood, or performing an annual pruning, make sure your cuts are no more than ¼ inch (5 mm) above a bud, and slope the cut away from the bud, to prevent water from collecting on it.
- Your cuts should always be clean, so keep your pruning shears sharp, and use pruning tools that are appropriately sized to whatever size stems you are cutting.
- To encourage an open-centered form, cut to an outward-facing bud. To encourage upright growth on roses with a spreading habit, prune a few of the stems to inward-facing buds.
- Prune any dieback to the healthy, white pith.
- Remove dead or diseased stems, as well as any that cross or are spindly.
- Your goal should be to have well-spaced stems that allow for a free flow of air.
- If pruning an established plant, remove any old wood that is flowering poorly, and use a saw to get rid of old stubs that are no longer producing new shoots.
- Other than climbing roses, you should prune newly planted roses hard, which encourages vigorous shoot production.
- When removing suckers, trace them back to the roots from which they are growing, and simply take them off.
