Roses are adored by many garden lovers as there’s something for everyone: whether you’re after red, white, pink or multi-coloured roses, whether you want large or small flowers, whether you prefer short or long stems, or whether you like your roses fragrant or odourless – there are countless different types of roses.
But whichever type you go for, roses are a beautiful addition to your garden and help to bring it to life, which is why they play such an important role.
To make sure they look their best when they bloom, the gardening pros at Moowy claim that it’s “essential” to prune your roses.
They said: “Roses are the most romantic of blooms: blood red, dripping in cultural significance, and hardy enough to provide years and years of outstanding beauty.
“But, left to their own devices, rose bushes become leggy and unwieldy – so pruning roses becomes an essential garden task.
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“Prune branches to around half their original length to ensure new growth, prolific summer blooming and abundant flowering.”
Pruning roses is essential for three reasons – it keeps them healthy, helps stimulate new growth and assists the plant with recovery after winter.
So when should you prune roses? According to the experts the “most significant pruning of the year” should take place in early spring when the plant has started to bud and leaf out.
How to prune roses
The first step of pruning roses is to remove the leaves at the tip of each branch so that it gives you a better overview of the shape of the existing bush, allowing you to see all the canes and interior growth.
Next, prune off dead wood – these are the ones that are brown on the inside of the stem. Gardeners need to cut them until they notice that the stem is green.
Now the outer leaves are gone, gardeners can see inside the bush to remove any crossing branches as these can rub together, causing damage and disease. Weak or thin growth should also be removed.
After, prune back other canes by cutting a quarter to half an inch above an outward-facing “bud eye” – this is the small bump where the leaf meets the stem.
Cut at 45 degrees, in a slope away from the bud, allowing water to run off the tip when wet.
Once pruned, use a pruning sealer compound to seal the cuts, this will protect the exposed cane from rot and pests.
Make sure to clear up cut branches that surround the bush as leaving them could encourage pests and diseases.
All that’s left is to feed the roses after pruning. The experts claimed that roses “need plenty of nutrition”, so use a long-lasting fertiliser to “help the bush bounce back” after pruning.
