It's Time For A Major Pruning Of Repeatflower Roses. Don't Be Shy It Will Mean More Blooms In Spring

Our long growing season means we can normally flower our roses twice a year. The first pruning is carried out at any time from late January to mid-February, and the second - from late August to early September.

The pruning we do now is serious pruning and usually involves more severe pruning than late summer pruning. Rose pruning encourages vigorous new growth that produces the beautiful blooms we all enjoy.

The time to prune roses is not arbitrary, it is related to their flowering cycle. Pruning, done in late winter, prepares the roses for the April to June blooming season. Pruning in late summer prepares the roses for the October to December blooming season. Although reblooming roses bloom from late spring to early winter, it is during these two seasons that weather conditions produce the highest quality blooms.

What do you need

Use a sharp bypass-type hand pruner when pruning roses. They make clean cuts and reduce stem damage.
Wear a pair of long, sturdy leather gloves and long-sleeved clothing, because no matter how careful you are, the spikes can hurt or scratch your hands and arms.
If you need to cut sticks larger than a half-inch in diameter, use pruning shears.

The hybrid tea rose was brought to the US from England during World War II. This is one of those varieties that needs pruning now.

Prosecution photo of MAX BESHERER

what should i cut

HYBRID EROS: When it comes to pruning hybrid tea roses, the recommendations are for high-quality blooms with long stems. To control their long, leggy growth habit and encourage the shrub to produce large, high-quality, long-stemmed flowers, hybrid tea roses (and their closely related grandiflora roses) should be heavily pruned each year.

First, remove diseased or dead shoots by clipping back where they started. Weak, thin sticks the size of a pencil or smaller should also be removed in the same way.

A good rose bush should have four to eight strong, healthy shoots an inch in diameter or more after this first step. Cut the remaining shoots 18 to 24 inches from the ground, cutting about a quarter-inch above any dormant shoots or young side shoots growing away from the center of the bush.

OTHER VARIETIES: Other re-blooming roses such as China, Tea, Noisette, Bourbon, Polyantha, Floribunda, Landscape (such as the popular Knock Out and Drift roses) and miniature roses can now also be pruned. If there is no need to control its size, strong pruning is not required.

Typically, these roses are cut back one-third to one-half of their height, depending on the situation.

Long, very strong shoots that have outgrown the rest of the bush and are throwing it off balance can be pruned back harder than the rest of the bush. Also, be sure to prune off any dead or weak shoots.

Fertilize all roses in early March.

what can not be expected

Single-flowered roses should not be pruned now. Single-flowered roses produce blooms on the previous year's buds with a heavy flow in late spring and early summer, then bloom little to none the rest of the year. If you prune hardy single-flowered roses now, they will produce few flowers, if any.

Roses that once flowered and should not have been pruned now include many climbing and walking roses, as well as some old garden roses. When extensive pruning of single-flowered roses is required, it is best done in mid-summer, after they have faded.

REMEMBER: Replanting rose bushes will be much easier and more rewarding if you prune them regularly.

It is more difficult to properly prune rose bushes that have grown for years without pruning and exceed the desired size.

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Dan Gill is a retired horticulturist at the LSU Aggregate Center. He hosts The Garden Show on WWL-AM every Saturday at 9 am. Send gardening questions to gnogardening@agcenter.lsu.edu.