Pruning is essential if you really want your rose to thrive.

The main purpose of pruning is to create a shapely, attractive plant, with good coverage and structure, you can do this by simply removing parts of the plant during the non-flowering season. Pruning encourages fresh new growth and plentiful blooms for the following season.

It’s time to prepare your roses for the year ahead and give them a prune. Ideally, complete this task while the roses are still dormant, usually in January or February. If your roses have leafed and you still have not pruned it is still better to prune, but this may push back the flowering period until later in the season. If you haven’t pruned by March, don’t worry; your roses will still benefit from a thorough prune.

• Don’t worry about where you cut a stem. Accepted wisdom suggests cutting just above a leaf joint with a sloping cut away from the bud. However, there is no evidence to prove this is necessary.
• Do not worry about cutting back too much.Do not be alarmed, the growth will strengthen and re-establish quickly in the spring.
• Carefully dispose of foliage. Foliage should never be composted and should be removed from your garden. This ensures spores that can initiate disease are removed from your garden.