Pruning your roses is more than just tidying up the garden, it’s a chance to shape them into beautiful forms and encourage blooms from top to bottom. With the right approach, pruning helps your roses to not only stay healthy but also bloom in stunning, well-balanced shapes. Here’s how to prune them in a way that encourages flowers at every level, creating a balanced, beautiful display.

Pruning allows you to shape your rose to fit the space in which your English rose is planted. Think about the desired height and overall form to ensure the rose thrives and looks beautiful.

• For a Compact Shape: To keep certain areas of the plant shorter, prune those stems by half. This helps to maintain a neat, compact shape.
• For Taller Growth: If you want some areas to grow taller, prune the stems by a third. This promotes longer growth in those sections.
  

• Against a Wall: If your rose is planted against a wall, prune the back stems lightly (around a third) and the front stems more severely (around a half). This creates a gentle slope, allowing light and air to reach all parts of the plant.
• In Pots or Containers: For potted roses, trim the middle of the plant by a third and the edges by half. This helps create a rounded, balanced appearance that enhances the rose’s shape from all angles.
• For Group Plantings or Undulating Shapes: When planting roses in groups or aiming for a more natural, flowing look, adjust your pruning to encourage a softer, undulating shape. You can prune more selectively, keeping the growth flowing and balanced.
  
  By considering the space and shape you want, you can tailor your pruning to achieve a healthy, well-formed rose that suits its surroundings.

Climbing roses have long, flexible stems that need both training and pruning to help them grow beautifully and produce blooms all over.

Train the Stems Horizontally

Training climbing roses horizontally along walls, fences, or arches helps create a fuller plant with flowers all along the cane, not just at the tips.

• Fan Out the Stems: Spread the stems out as much as possible to allow the best light and airflow.
• Secure Gently: Use soft garden ties to hold the stems in place without damaging or bruising them.
  

To get blooms from the base to the top of the climbing rose, stagger your cuts at different heights:

• Low Level: Trim some stems back to about 50 cm to encourage fresh growth at the bottom.
• Mid-Level: Leave a few stems around 1 metre to promote blooms in the middle.
• High Level: Keep other stems at about 1.5 metres for flowers at the top.

This technique helps the plant focus its energy evenly, producing flowers at various levels. By training the stems and pruning this way, you will get a rose that blooms from top to bottom, creating a beautiful cascade of flowers.

Pruning at different heights mimics how roses grow naturally, encouraging flowers at every level. By fanning out the stems and cutting at varying heights, you will get a rose that looks full, balanced, and brimming with blooms.

With just a little time and care, you will be rewarded with a garden full of colour and fragrance, and the satisfaction of knowing it was your careful hand that made it all possible.