Roses bring a stunning beauty to the spring garden, and who can’t resist sniffing those first few blooms? The key to abundant blooms this spring is hard pruning your roses during winter. In Contra Costa County, the best time to hard prune roses is January to February, after the last frost.
Why do we hard-prune roses in winter? Roses are prolific growers, climbing high and wide during the growing season. This growth can become unwieldy and, worse, sap energy from the shrub. Hard pruning in winter has three benefits.
- Helps you shape the rosebush to make it attractive and fit your space.
- Directs energy towards new spring blooms.
- Promotes health by eliminating diseased branches and hiding places for pests.
Prepare before you begin. Always wear eye protection, thorn-proof gloves (preferably gauntlet-style), long pants, and long-sleeved clothing while pruning. Use disinfected, sharp bypass cutters for trimming branches or longer loppers for tall or climbing roses.
How much to prune? Expect to remove about 1/3 to ½ of last year’s growth from your roses. It may sound like a lot, but your roses will reward you.
What’s the goal? Different roses have different pruning goals.
- Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, and Grandiflora—Remove enough branches to create a vase-like shape with an open center. This allows air to circulate and the sun to reach the branches. When finished, expect to have 6-10 well-positioned canes, 2–4’ tall.
- Miniature & Shrub Roses—Manage the size and shape by trimming overly vigorous branches.
- Climbing Roses—Cut back branches to six lateral canes. Affix canes to a structure with wire or string. For climbers that bloom only once per year, prune after spring blooming is finished.
Ready to Hard Prune? Great! Follow these 5 steps to hard-prune hybrid tea, floribunda, and grandiflora roses. (For pruning FAQ’s on these and other types of roses, including shrub, miniature, or climbing, check out https://ucanr.edu/node/129797/printable/print.)
- Remove all leaves so you can see the structure of the plant
- Prune away branches that fit the 4D’s: Dead, Damaged, Diseased, Deranged
Cut branches that fit the 3 C’s: Crossing, Competing, Crowding… or thinner than a pencil
Find the outward bud and prune to a 45-degree angle. This step will force the new lateral growth outward (keeping the interior airy and open). Make your cut ¼” above the outward-facing bud at a 45-degree angle. The angle helps water flow away from the bud, preventing rot.
- Lastly, clean up the base. Cut any suckers from beneath the bud union because they will take energy from the plant. Remove debris, old leaves, and pruned branches, and put them in your green bin to prevent disease and pests from spreading.
Post-Prune Care—Help your rose stay strong during winter and get ready for the big bloom.
- Apply compost 2-3 inches deep around the rose plant, but push it away from the rose canes
- Apply organic or natural, balanced, rose-specific fertilizer in the spring once you see 2-3 inches of new growth. Follow label instructions for application.
- Optional – apply a horticultural oil to smother overwintering scale and insect eggs while doing the least harm to beneficial insects.
Have confidence! While there aren’t many guarantees in life, you can trust that hard winter pruning of your roses will reward you with a burst of beautiful blooms this spring. Don’t worry about cutting too much or the wrong way. Roses are forgiving and resilient. Trust the process now, and your garden will do the bragging this spring!
For more information about planting, pruning, and caring for roses:
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/roses-cultural-practices-and-weed-control/#gsc.tab=0
Handy one-page pruning guide:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2025-02/407670.pdf