How to prune climbing roses

Strictly speaking there are several ways to prune climbing roses. You can get away with a little careful use of the pruners without doing any damage and still re-envigorate the plant. What is done however is the removal of old and/or diseased stems.But what pruning is done still follows the same guidelines as regards how to prune and using the correct tool.

What little pruning is done needs to be done properly.Knowing how to prune is still important. There is an easy way of pruning roses but it does not really apply to pruning climbers, in this case you are only removing a few stems.

You need a good sharp pruners or secateurs. if your climbing rose is a few years old the stems might be a little too thick and tough for an ordinary pruners. In this case it is better to use a long handled shears. These are a lot better than pruning saws. Whatever you use make sure that they are very sharp. Making unclean cuts is an invitation for trouble as the chances of infection are greatly increased.

Prune out the old stems, don’t remove them all in the one year, just a couple at a time. This encourages new healthy growth every year. If you are careful you can remove some of the side shoots to about two thirds of their original size. Again, don’t go mad, a little every year does the trick.

Prune just above an outward facing bud at approximately 45 degree angle. The top of your slanted cut should be just above the bud.

If growing climbing roses from scratch it is a good idea to place horizontal support wires spaced at  about 4 to 6  inches apart. Tie your climbing roses on to these horizontally the whole way across with each stem. You are looking for a fan shape. Growing climbing roses this way ensures that you have blooms all over the plant rather than just at the top. The added bonus is that you then can carefull prune your climbing rose just a little bit every year and then tie in the new growth.

If you are still a little concerned about pruning climbing roses then do as sugested in the next paragraph and you are safe.

How To Prune Climbing Roses-The failsafe method.

Get rid of any dead shoot tips in March, for shoots that had blooms the previous season prune them back to about 4 inches. Unless it is absolutely necessary only remove stems totally that  are totally spent and even then only prune out one stem per year.

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