Hard-pruning your roses

A tough cut will send them shooting away, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

IF you pruned your shrub roses back by one half to a third in autumn, now is the time to give them a really good chop.

If you didn’t get round to pruning them earlier, they will certainly benefit from a hard pruning now. It may seem counter-intuitive to cut them right back but I promise you that if you do, they will throw out lots of healthy new shots next spring.

I took my loppers and cut ours back to ankle height, removing all the old growth. I can see tiny new buds already forming on the stems beneath the cuts, and these will grow fast in spring.

I also pruned a small container rose, shortening the main stems and cutting off the inward-facing shoots so it keeps a neat, open shape for attractive and healthy growth.

Climbing roses can also be cut back now and completely renovated if they are old and overgrown. Remove any dead, diseased and damaged growth and tie in new shoots so they grow in the direction you favour.

Then prune back flowered side shoots by a third of their length.