Pruning rose bush shrubs, technique and timing

Pruning bush roses

Here is how to prune rose bush shrubs, proper timing and relevant techniques.

Pruning of a shrubby rose bushes impacts the shrub’s flowering and guides growth as years go by.

Bush roses or shrub roses are a type of rose usually formed of:

  • a very short stem
  • from 3 to many shoots sprouting from very low, near ground level
  • with lots of branching out
  • and many flowers.

They’re different from climbing roses and need a different type of pruning. Read on to see how to prune bush roses!

Season for pruning rose bush shrubs

There are 2 pruning seasons throughout the year. The second one is the more important of the 2.

  • Less important – Fall is for light pruning that only aims to remove wilted flowers, dead wood and weaker branches.
  • More important – End of winter or the beginning of spring. This is when a more drastic and final pruning is performed, most often in very early spring (March). Follow the pruning tips below.

Pruning rose bush shrubs

  • pruning rose bush shrubsKeep in mind that the purpose of the pruning is to cut the shrub short while keeping its main branches.
  • It is important to reduce old fibrous branches to make way for young shoots.
  • Pruning tries to keep the buds that will grow into flower-bearing branches as close as possible to the graft point.
  • Try to cut around the 4th outward-facing eye.
  • Also cut twigs and dead branches, and older stems, too.

Our video advice on rose bush shrub pruning tips

See also:

Smart tip about pruning roses

Don’t stop at only light pruning: drastic pruning tends to make your rose tree more vigorous.


Images: dreamstime: Visarut Uparee, Pixabay: Arturs Budkevics