- It is important to use equipment that is sharp and clean. Canes -- the proper name for rose stalks -- are to be cut at a 45-degree angle. The cut should be made directly above an outward-facing bud. Any dark or shriveled canes are to be removed. Also remove small, weak canes. Seal the ends of all cut canes with a protective coating such as white glue. Remove any suckers growing from the bottom of the plant.
- The removal of dead roses is called deadheading. This is a type of ongoing pruning and lasts the entire time the roses are in bloom. Once a flower has begun to die, it should be cut from the bush. The stem is usually cut back to a bud facing outward that is located immediately above either a five- or a seven-leaflet leaf. Deadhead pruning should be done on a daily basis, for best results. Removing the spent flowers prevents the rose bush from making seeds, allowing it to put most of its energy into making flowers instead of seeds.
- Shrub-type rose bushes bloom on older wood and should not be cut back too severely. The oldest canes are removed, but younger canes are left to take their place. The entire plant is trimmed to give it some shape. No pruning should be done the first few years, but once the plant is established, pruning should take place every spring.
- Roses that are classified as ever-blooming will flower repeatedly throughout the growing season. The flowers on these plants appear on new canes, so older wood is pruned away to make room for new growth. This type of rose should be pruned in the earliest part of spring. Canes are cut quite short and many are removed.
- Rambling roses don't need to be pruned for several years after being planted. Because these roses only bloom once each year, prune them right after the blooming is done for the year, generally in the early part of the summer. Usually all these roses require is deadheading and the removal of any dead canes to keep them in shape.
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