Summary:
Hybrid tea roses bloom on current-year growth and require regular, careful pruning to remain healthy and flower abundantly.
Key Points at a Glance
- Timing for Spring Pruning:
- Prune when forsythias are in bloom.
- Remove dead, diseased, and damaged canes.
- For less vigorous varieties: leave stems about 20 cm tall; for vigorous varieties: leave 40 cm.
- Planting Prune:
- Before planting, trim damaged stems and root tips slightly to encourage fine root growth.
- In spring, cut all strong stems back to 15 cm (leave two to four buds per stem).
- Regular Maintenance Pruning:
- Each year, cut one or two older canes back to the ground, leaving five young, green canes.
- Trim young canes by half to two-thirds of their length.
- Adjust cuts based on the overall vigor of the rose variety.
- Summer Pruning:
- Regularly remove faded flowers to prevent energy-draining fruit formation and potential fungal infections.
- Cut back to the first fully developed leaf below the flower (usually five-leaflet leaves).
Pruning Tips
- Tools: Use sharp pruning shears for clean cuts.
- Wild Shoots: Remove suckers (shoots growing below the graft union) by tearing them off instead of cutting.
- Standard Roses: For tree roses, prune crown branches to 15 cm and remove dead or crossing stems.
Special Notes
- Rejuvenating Older Hybrid Tea Roses:
- Rejuvenate over two years by cutting half the old canes back to the ground each year.
- Frost Damage:
- Trim back affected canes to healthy, green wood.
- Tree Roses (High-Grafted Roses):
- Treat the crown like a standard hybrid tea rose; the crown corresponds to the soil level for bed roses.
Why Pruning Matters
Pruning encourages strong flowering by focusing the plant’s energy on new growth and preventing aging.