How to prune roses in spring to provoke lush flowering: it's time to do it

Pruning roses in spring is a mandatory and important stage of plant care. It largely determines how the buds will be set and the bushes will bloom. SSPDaily prepared tips from experts, proper, formative pruning that can even provoke re-flowering.

When to prune roses in spring

The best time to prune roses in spring is March-April, when the buds are swelling but not yet starting to grow. And this directly depends on the weather conditions, because spring can be warm or not.

Experts advise to focus on such a flower as forsythia, of course, if it grows on your site. This is one of the earliest flowers to open its golden bells at a time when other bushes are just waking up after hibernation. So, if the first flowers appear, this is a reliable signal for pruning rose bushes.

General rules for pruning roses in March-April

You need to prune the bushes on a clear, sunny day that does not predict rain. Tools for pruning, which can be secateurs, scissors, etc., must be disinfected in a strong solution of potassium permanganate.

First of all, we carry out sanitary pruning of the bushes - we remove dry, weak and damaged branches.

The next step is formative pruning. Cut the branch at a 45-degree angle, 5-7 mm above the level of the bud. Look carefully at the cut. If it is clean, milky white in color, everything is fine. And if the cut is covered with brown spots, then the branch is sick. Cut it down until you are sure that the core of the cut is clean and healthy.

Rules for pruning shrub and standard roses

We form bushes in the form of a compact ball, leaving half or a third of the length, or spreading out - at different levels. In the first case, flowering will begin simultaneously on all branches, in the second, the buds will open at different times, flowering will not be as abundant, but longer.

The upper bud should "look" outward, otherwise the shoot will begin to grow inside the crown. The cut itself should be directed downward; open cuts do not look very aesthetically pleasing. After pruning, the rose should have several strong shoots shortened to 3-5 buds.

Intensive pruning promotes the formation of strong shoots and lush flowering. Moderate pruning forms lateral shoots, which makes the bush more voluminous, while young branches will be thinner and flowers smaller.

Hybrid tea roses are pruned intensively. Shoots older than two years are cut out completely, annuals are shortened to 5-6 buds. The height of an adult bush after pruning should be 20-25 cm, a young one - up to 15 cm.

Features of pruning ground cover, climbing roses and floribunda

• Ground cover roses are pruned every two to three years to a height of 20-30 cm. And once every 5-6 years, a radical pruning is carried out, leaving 2-4 buds on each shoot.
• Climbing roses that set buds on last year's shoots are not pruned. In remontant varieties (blooming on last year's and young shoots), short side branches are cut to 3-5 buds. Long skeletal lashes are not touched.
• Weak-growing floribunda roses are pruned in the same way as hybrid tea roses, but less intensively. Shoots older than 2-3 years are shortened to 3-4 buds, annuals are cut to a third of the length.