Pruning is a very important part of rose gardening. Pruning your roses will not only improve the air circulation through the plant but also minimize the risk of mildew and other fungal disease.

Rose pruning is all about stimulating vigorous new growth which arises from the growth bud nearest to the cut. Basically, you want to cut out all the dead and diseased wood.

You can prune at any time when the rose is dormant. If you’re afraid of hurting your roses, you can always prune a little at first and prune again later.

Just make sure that you feed them with fertilizer and mulch them well after pruning and they will continue to grow and thrive.

The best tool for pruning roses is secateurs which makes the job a lot easier than a pair of scissors. If the stem is too thick, you will need use one of those long handled pruners called lopper which is a heavy duty version of pruner and it has more cutting strength.

Make sure that you clean the blade of your pruners with an oily rag after using them. Only use pruners with sharp blades as blunt tools will not only make it difficult for pruning but it will also tear and snag the wood, making your roses more vulnerable to disease.

When you start making the cuts, you need to first understand that new growth will only arise from the bud nearest to the cut you make. Keeping that in mind, while pruning your roses, you want to prune to a bud that faces in the direction you want the new shoot to grow.

Do not worry about damaging the plant. Just cut above the bud and angle the cut away from the emerging growth. You will also want to cut out all the dead and diseased wood.

Removing faded blooms or flowers is very important if you want your roses to reach their full growing potential. Pruning faded flowers is just like telling them to use the energy for further flowering instead of hip production.