Pruning Roses: A Guide for the Season Ahead
Pruning is one of the most rewarding jobs you can do for your roses. It brings shape and structure to the plant, refreshes it for the season ahead, and helps encourage a generous display of flowers.
For many gardeners, pruning can feel daunting. There is always the worry of cutting too much, or cutting in the wrong place. In truth, roses are resilient, and pruning is not about perfection. It is about gently guiding the plant into balance, removing what no longer serves it, and making space for new life.
This guide covers the essentials of when and why to prune, along with links to step-by-step advice for different rose types.
Pruning is one of the simplest ways to help a rose perform at its best.
In January and February, the plant is resting. It is still dormant and ready to be shaped. By removing certain stems at this time of year, you encourage the rose to send up fresh growth as the weather begins to warm. By encouraging fresh growth, you help the rose stay healthy, well-shaped, and ready to flower beautifully in the months ahead.
As well as encouraging blooms, pruning helps you create a shapely, attractive plant with good coverage and structure, ensuring it looks as beautiful in leaf as it does in flower.
Essentials
- A pair of secateurs & holster
It is worth sterilising secateurs from time to time, particularly if you are removing diseased growth, as this helps prevent
spreading infection from one plant to another.
- Flexi-Tie Roll (or similar soft tying material)
- Gloves & Gardenwear
- Vine eyes
- Galvanised wire
Optional
- Long handled loppers
- Kneelo Kneeling Pad
- Niwaki Kneeling Pad
- Kneelo Knee Pads
- Pruning saw for older shrubs can be useful for thick, woody stems.
- A wheelbarrow or bucket to gather old leaves and pruned stems
Winter pruning is best completed while roses are dormant, and for most gardens that means January or February.
If you notice signs of new growth and you still haven’t pruned, don’t worry. It is still better to prune than to leave the plant unshaped. The only real difference is that flowering may be delayed slightly later into the season.
And if March arrives and you still haven’t done it, you haven’t missed your chance. Roses respond well to pruning, and they will still benefit from a cut back.
A few key pruning principles
Pruning advice is often passed down with very specific “rules”, but it is worth remembering that roses are forgiving.
Don’t worry too much about where you cut
Traditional guidance suggests cutting just above a leaf joint, with a sloping cut away from the bud. While this is often repeated, there is no evidence to suggest it is essential. It is far more important to prune with confidence and aim for a balanced, well-shaped plant.
Clear away all foliage carefully
Any old foliage should be removed from around the rose and disposed of carefully. Rose leaves should never be composted, as they can harbour spores that initiate disease. Clearing leaves away helps start the season cleanly and reduces the risk of problems later on.
Why pruning helps maximise flowering
To prune is to decide where the rose will spend its energy. Without pruning, a rose may carry too much older growth and become congested. Flowering can become weaker, and the overall shape less pleasing. When you prune, you create space and structure. You encourage the rose to grow well, with fresh energy, and a shape that supports flowering across the plant.
In simple terms, pruning helps because it supports:
- Healthier growth
- Better structure and coverage
- More balanced flowering
It is one of those gardening tasks that feels bold in the moment, but generous later on.
How to Prune Different Types of Roses
Not all roses are pruned in quite the same way. The overall principles remain consistent, but the details change depending on how the rose grows and flowers. Below you’ll find a starting point for each type, with links to more detailed guidance.
-
How to Prune Repeat Flowering Shrub RosesEnglish shrub roses thrive with an annual prune, keeping their shape, renewing growth, and supporting generous flowering.Read more -
How to Prune Repeat Flowering Climbing and Rambling RosesPrized for long stems and a graceful habit, they clothe structures with bloom; pruning maintains a strong framework and flowers along each stem.Read more
Some roses have habits that call for a slightly different approach, depending on how and when they flower. If you are unsure what type of rose you have, it is worth checking before pruning, as a tailored approach can make a noticeable difference to performance.
Not sure what rose you’ve got? Our Customer Services team would be glad to take a look and help identify it.
Pruning can feel daunting the first time, but roses are tougher than they look. If you prune a little later than planned, or you’re not completely sure where to cut, don’t worry. A thoughtful winter prune will still benefit the plant and help set it up well for the season ahead.
-
The Basics of Growing RosesRoses bring a quiet happiness to a garden. Their beauty feels effortless once they are settled, and even a new gardener can grow them with success. With sunlight, sound soil, and a little seasonal care, roses will flower generously and become dependable companions through the year.
-
Pruning English Shrub And Climbing Roses For Abundant BloomsPruning your roses is more than just tidying up the garden, it’s a chance to shape them into beautiful forms and encourage blooms from top to bottom. With the right approach, pruning helps your roses to not only stay healthy but also bloom in stunning, well-balanced shapes.
-
How to Prune Repeat Flowering Climbing and Rambling RosesClimbing and rambling roses are among the most rewarding roses to grow. Given a support and a little guidance, they quickly become generous plants, covering walls, arches and structures with leafy growth and repeat flowers across the season.
-
How to Prune Standard RosesStandard roses bring a touch of elegance to any garden, their blooms held aloft like a bouquet upon a slender stem. Pruning them correctly helps maintain this graceful shape, encourages healthy growth, and ensures an abundance of flowers year after year.
-
Once-Flowering Roses: A Guide to PruningOnce-flowering roses carry an air of tradition, a reminder of old gardens where their brief but magnificent display was the highlight of summer. They bloom on wood made the year before, so pruning them is a matter of patience and respect for their natural rhythm.
-
Pruning Roses: A Guide for the Season AheadPruning is one of the most rewarding jobs you can do for your roses. It brings shape and structure to the plant, refreshes it for the season ahead, and helps encourage a generous display of flowers.
-
How to Prune English Roses in Pots and ContainersAn English Rose in a container is one of the garden’s greatest luxuries. Whether placed beside a front door, on a terrace, or nestled into a paved courtyard, a potted rose brings perfume and flower close at hand, not at a distance, but right where it can be enjoyed daily.
-
How to Prune Repeat Flowering Climbing and Rambling RosesClimbing and rambling roses are among the most rewarding roses to grow. Given a support and a little guidance, they quickly become generous plants, covering walls, arches and structures with leafy growth and repeat flowers across the season.
-
How to Prune Repeat Flowering Shrub RosesIn winter, the garden shows its bones. Beds are quieter, borders are pared back, and shrubs stand in their true shape. Roses too reveal themselves at this time of year, and although it may seem as though little is happening, the plant is already preparing for the season to come.
-
How to Keep English Roses at Their Best Until They Can Be PlantedGifting a rose is a thoughtful and much-loved gesture. Even in winter, when the garden rests and the days grow quieter, a rose carries the promise of colour and new life in the year ahead. Often, though, roses are bought well before they are given. If yours needs to be kept for a short while before it can be planted, caring for it is wonderfully simple. Roses are far more patient than they appear and will remain at their best with just a little attention.
-
The Basics of Growing RosesRoses bring a quiet happiness to a garden. Their beauty feels effortless once they are settled, and even a new gardener can grow them with success. With sunlight, sound soil, and a little seasonal care, roses will flower generously and become dependable companions through the year.
