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I have waited too long to prune my rose bushes and now I don't know where cut. Each year my bushes grow extremely tall so I have to have them start low, and there isn't much foliage down low because they haven't been properly maintained over the years. They are old bushes, and produce beautifully, but I can't have them start up so high. All the buds have started on the branches from the last growth of the season last year. I can post a pic if needed. I am in Utah.

It's only going to get more difficult to find the places to cut *after* the bushes leaf out, so sooner is better than later.

Priorities go to:

--dead branches--remove these at the base;
--crossing branches--get rid of one of them at least;
--spindly growth, twiggy-looking "branches" veering off at weird angles to the bush;
--crowded branches;
--branches that prevent sunlight and/or air from circulating within the bush.

Keep up with these during the growing season, and the "shaping" type of pruning that you want to do during dormancy next year will be much easier.

I've had to do this several times, when I've gotten behind on my roses, too, so it's not just a theoretical approach. Granted, I don't have hard-freeze winters, so you need to make whatever timing adjustments are necessary to avoid inducing new growth when freezes are expected; I can't give you guidelines for that except what I've just stated. Sorry....

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Thank You. I will see if I can figure out those details. To me, they all look spindly and grow in cross sections. A couple have some dead branches, and one has a a VERY thick dead branch that I will need an ax to remove. I think I tried last year, and gave up, and never tried the ax. Thanks again.

Here are the tools I use for pruning roses, from smallest to largest:

1) Pruning shears: these can tackle anything up to 0.75" (2 cm) diameter. I have the Felco(tm) pruners with unequal handle lengths.

2) Branch loppers: anything up to approx. 1.25" (3.5 cm) diameter. Keep the blades sharpened.

3) Pruning saw: mine cuts on the push *and* the pull stroke, and I use it for anything larger than 1.25" but still within my strength. Example: I used the pruning saw on my MIL's fig tree in early March to cut a lateral branch approx. 2" (5 cm) in diameter. I might have been able to deal with as much as 3" (7.5 cm) across, but anything larger than that would have needed power tools, and I don't have the hand strength or the shoulder stability to wield power tools at shoulder level, which is where these branches were.

[url=https://www.organicrosecare.org/index.php]This[/url] is a site on organic rose care, to help with "kicking the chemical habit" (if you've been treating your roses chemically). Organic rose care generally costs much less, both in terms of time and money, than chemical rose care.

[url=https://www.ars.org/?page_id=3175]This[/url] is a one-page summary of "pruning principles" from the American Rose Society (ARS).

Please don't use an "axe" on a rose bush, no matter how overgrown. Roses need clean cuts on their canes so they won't invite insects, disease, and other undesirables to invade their beautiful selves. Use the pruning shears this year and, next year, perhaps have an experienced rose grower advise you in person with heavier-duty tools at the ready.

If the bushes are as densely overgrown as I'm imagining, keep this overriding guideline in mind: *never* remove more than one-third of a plant in one season ("season" = spring to winter in this sense). The plant can go into shock and die.

If you need to remove more than one-third of the plant, then plan your removals over more than one season. Some trees and larger shrubs need to be planned for a three-year take-down in order to save the plant and not send it into shock.

Cynthia H.

Thank you. Yeah, I have not been very carefully with removal of dead branches. Most of them have been removed by way of breaking them off because they were large. I have a pic of the roses from last year on this forum under another heading. I just don't know how I would find that.

Found it https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37007

Cynthia,

Thanks for the advice and links! I especially liked the ARS pruning tips.

We have four rose bushes at the front of our newly purchased home. They haven't been cared for in years so we did some trimming back a few months ago (winter).

Now that the unusually warm weather is here every one of the bushes shows leaves and seems to be happy

Can't wait to see what these will look like when they actually get some TLC and water!

I have never been successful with roses but feel that now is the time to learn all I can!