How-to Guide
When and How to Prune Roses
The short answer
For repeat-blooming roses (hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, most shrub roses), prune in late winter or early spring, when the buds are just starting to swell but before the leaves expand. First remove all dead, damaged, and diseased wood, then thin out weak or crossing canes to open up the center for airflow. On hybrid teas you typically take off one-third to two-thirds of each cane, cutting back to an outward-facing bud.
Wait on once-blooming and climbing roses. Old garden and rambler roses that flower only once bloom on last year's wood, so prune them right after they finish flowering in summer, not in spring. Don't hard-prune a climber for its first two to three years — just remove dead or damaged wood while it establishes its framework.
Timing
The reliable signal is bud swell in late winter or early spring. Pruning too early, before the last hard frost, invites die-back that forces you to prune again. A common regional cue is to prune around the time forsythia blooms.
How to make the cuts
- 1Take out the dead first — Remove all dead, damaged, and diseased canes back to healthy, white-centered wood.
- 2Open the center — Thin out thin, weak, or crossing canes so light and air reach the middle of the plant — this reduces disease.
- 3Cut to an outward-facing bud — Make each cut at about a 45-degree angle roughly a quarter-inch above an outward-facing bud so new growth heads away from the center.
- 4Shorten the keepers — On hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras, cut healthy canes back by one-third to two-thirds, to an outside bud.
Special cases
- Once-blooming old garden and rambler roses: prune right after they flower in summer (they bloom on old wood).
- Climbing roses: don't hard-prune for the first 2-3 years; after that, cut side shoots back in early spring and remove only dead/damaged wood while training the main canes.
- Always prune off suckers arising below the graft union on grafted roses.
Sources
Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.
- Oregon State University Extension Service — Pruning roses — Prune roses in late winter/early spring as buds begin to swell; remove dead, diseased, and weak wood, open the center, and cut at an angle above an outward-facing bud.
- University of Illinois Extension — Roses: Pruning — Prune hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras in early spring when about half the buds are swollen, taking off one-third to two-thirds of the canes; do not hard-prune climbing roses for the first three years, removing only dead/damaged/diseased wood.