Chop and change
cases remove anything dead – you can tell this if it’s brown when you cut into it. Leaving dead wood can be a home for fungus and disease. Likewise remove any suckers – these are fresh green shoots emerging from the rootstock or the ground around the base of the rose.
Climbing roses are treated differently and you don’t want to cut the main canes down to the ground as these are the framework from which flowering branches stem from. Imagine it like a tree – you leave the trunk as it is, a sturdy support from which everything flows.
You can trim the main canes back a bit at the top if they are too high but in general you will be concentrating on the branches that emerge from the main stems – these are called lateral branches and this is where the flowers will come from. Working your way up the main stem, cut back all the laterals to around a foot in length. As you go, you can also cut out any spindly unproductive growth. Now tie these laterals into a main support or trellis.
If you have a rambling rose, routine pruning usually takes place after it has finished flowering in late summer. In general, ramblers will look after themselves and don’t need hard pruning which is just as well as often they are so vigorous and can be hard to reach especially when they scramble up trees. Where possible, just tidy back excess growth and thin out if it looks over-congested. If the rose produces long flexible canes you can tie these in to the supports to encourage more flowering shoots to emerge. If it has become very overgrown, you can completely remove one or two of the old woody branches back to the ground.
Roses are strong plants and even if you get any of the above mixed up, they will often bounce back regardless. Wear strong gloves to protect from thorn scratches and use sharp secateurs to make clean cuts.
Tidy up afterwards removing all the cut bits so they won’t rot around the base of the plant. Finish off the job by giving your plant fertiliser in the form of manure, garden compost, fish blood and bone or chicken pellets – roses are hungry and will appreciate a good feed.
Ramblers are often vigorous and can be hard to reach