Pruning Roses in Spring

Begin by removing the rose collar and start to pull back some of the mulch. It’s best to remove mulch gradually over the course of several days. Check for cane dieback.

You can see on this cane where the green growth begins, so you want to cut past this point. Remove any old rose hips which remained through winter. 

Select an outward facing bud eye and make the cut about a ¼" above the bud eye.

Angle the cut away from the bud eye. Pruning cuts made this way will keep the rose growing outward.

Even with mounding for winter protection, roses can experience significant dieback, such as this one. Cut back brown canes to healthy growth.

This may mean you’ll cut the canes almost to the ground, in some cases. Use a good bypass hand pruner for medium sized canes and a long handled lopping pruner for larger canes.

After removing all the brown canes, this hybrid rose is ready for spring.

Mini-roses grow on their own roots. Remove winterkill down to healthy wood. Climbing roses have two types of canes, the main climbing canes and the flowering canes, which come off the main canes. Prune out any dead wood on the main canes now. If you’re unsure how to prune, stop in and we’ll be glad to show you.