How to Prune Roses in Spring: 7 Pro Tips

When it comes to rose maintenance, few tasks cause more anxiety than pruning. Many gardeners worry about cutting too much or too little, potentially damaging their precious plants. But spring pruning doesn’t have to be complicated, and it’s actually one of the most rewarding garden tasks once you understand the basics.

Proper pruning encourages new growth, improves air circulation, and helps your roses produce better blooms. It also gives you a chance to inspect your plants closely, catching any disease or pest issues before they become serious problems.

If you’ve been hesitant to prune your roses this spring, or if you’re looking to refine your technique, these 7 tips will guide you through the process with confidence.

Clean Your Tools

Before you make a single cut, take the time to clean and sharpen your pruning tools. This step might seem like unnecessary extra work, but it’s absolutely essential for the health of your roses and the success of your pruning efforts.

Dirty or dull pruning shears can spread disease from one plant to another and make ragged cuts that heal slowly and invite pests. Clean your tools thoroughly with rubbing alcohol or a solution of bleach and water before you begin. Wipe them down between plants if you’re pruning multiple roses, especially if any show signs of disease.

Sharp tools make clean cuts that heal quickly and cause less stress to the plant. If your shears are dull, sharpen them before you start.

Don’t forget to oil the moving parts of your pruners after cleaning, especially if you’ve used bleach which can be corrosive. A drop of oil on the hinge and a quick wipe down of the blades with an oiled cloth will keep your tools working smoothly and prevent rust from forming.

Remove Damaged and Diseased Canes

The first cuts you make should always target damaged or diseased canes. These can serve as entry points for pests and diseases that could spread to the rest of the plant or even to other roses in your garden. Plus, the take away from the overall beauty of your rose bush.

Look for canes that are blackened, shriveled, or have unusual discoloration. Winter damage often appears as blackened tips or entire canes that have died back. These should be removed all the way back to healthy tissue, which you can identify by green color and a white center.

When you find diseased canes, cut well below the affected area (at least 6 inches below any visible signs of disease). This ensures you remove all infected tissue. Don’t forget to look for cane borers as you go, which create small holes in the canes, often with sawdust-like material around them. Canes affected by borers should be cut below the damage, and the pruned material removed from the garden entirely—not composted—to prevent the pests from spreading.

Cut Back Crossed Canes

After removing damaged and diseased growth, turn your attention to canes that cross or rub against each other. When canes cross, they create friction points where the stem can be damaged, creating potential entry points for disease. They also compete for light and air, which can reduce flowering.

Identify any canes that cross through the center of the plant or rub against each other. Of each pair, keep the healthier, stronger one and remove the weaker one. Make your cuts as close to the base of the plant as possible without damaging other canes.

Sometimes the choice isn’t obvious. Both crossing canes might look equally healthy. In this case, consider the overall shape of the plant and which cane fits better into the desired form. Generally, you want to keep outward-facing canes that direct growth away from the center of the plant.

Remove Dense Growth

After addressing crossed canes, look for areas of dense growth that could benefit from thinning. Roses need good air circulation within the plant to stay healthy, and overcrowded growth creates humid, stagnant conditions that foster disease.

Identify any clusters of small, thin canes growing from the same point. These typically don’t produce good flowers. Remove the smallest, weakest canes from these clusters, leaving the strongest ones with adequate space between them.

Pay special attention to the center of the plant, which often becomes congested. By opening up the center, you allow sunlight to reach all parts of the rose and improve air movement through the plant. This can significantly reduce disease pressure throughout the growing season.

When removing dense growth, cut canes all the way back to their point of origin rather than just shortening them. This encourages the plant to direct energy to the remaining canes rather than producing new growth from the cut ends of weak canes.

Trim For Shape

Once you’ve addressed the health concerns—removing damaged, diseased, crossed, and overcrowded canes—it’s time to consider the aesthetic aspects of pruning. Shaping your rose bush not only improves its appearance but also influences how it will grow and flower during the season.

Most roses look best with a vase-shaped form that’s open in the center. To achieve this, look for outward-facing buds on the remaining canes. When you make your cuts, position them about 1/4 inch above an outward-facing bud, cutting at a 45-degree angle sloping away from the bud. This encourages new growth to develop outward rather than back toward the center of the plant.

The height at which you cut depends partly on the type of rose and partly on your personal preference. For hybrid teas and floribundas, many gardeners prune to a consistent height all around for a neat appearance. For more informal roses like shrub roses, you might vary the heights for a more natural look. This is a good time to re-train your climbers, too.

Remember that wherever you cut, new growth will emerge from that point. Just don’t cut them so short that you stress the plant. Always leave at least three to five healthy buds on each cane.

Established vs. New Roses

While pruning is essential for established roses, newly planted roses require a different approach. As a general rule, roses that have been in the ground for less than a year should receive minimal pruning in their first spring.

New roses need time to establish their root systems before directing energy to recovering from substantial pruning. For these young plants, limit your spring pruning to removing only damaged or diseased growth and perhaps very light shaping. Let them focus on establishing strong roots rather than responding to heavy pruning.

If you planted bare-root roses over the winter, they might have come with pruning already done or with instructions to prune at planting time. In this case, follow those instructions and then leave the plant alone, again removing only damaged growth that might have occurred since planting.

For container-grown roses that were planted in fall or early spring, check the nursery tag for specific instructions. Some modern roses are pruned at the nursery and don’t need additional pruning in their first year. When in doubt, go with less pruning for new plants.

Check The Requirements For Your Rose Type

Not all roses should be pruned the same way or at the same time in spring. Different types of roses have different growth habits and flowering patterns, which influence how they should be pruned.

Hybrid tea and floribunda roses typically respond well to more aggressive pruning, which encourages strong, new growth and larger blooms. These can be cut back by about one-third to one-half their height in early spring, removing all thin, weak canes and leaving 3-5 strong canes.

Old garden roses and once-blooming varieties need a gentler approach. For these roses, wait until after they bloom to do any significant pruning. In spring, limit yourself to removing winter damage and doing light shaping. Aggressive spring pruning of these roses can remove flower buds and significantly reduce blooming.

Climbing roses require special attention. Don’t cut back the long, main canes (the ones you’ve trained along a structure) unless they’re damaged. Instead, prune the side shoots that emerge from these main canes, cutting them back to 2-3 buds. This is where the flowers will form.