pruning roses

I prune mine hard in autumn before the danger of frosts and then again (more lightly)in spring if they need it. They get dead-headed in summer once they've bloomed. Hope this helps.

 

So far I only have a couple of Blaze climbers and three Freedom Hedge roses. The climbers I prune back whenever they need it and the hedge roses I lightly prune in fall....except for last year when they had been so stressed by heavy rain in spring then almost no rain for the rest of the year, I whacked them down to about 10 inches above the ground and they came back beautifully this spring.

I recently read that the old ways and thoughts about pruning roses are being set aside.

Lighten up on pruning of miniature and groundcover roses, they can become carefree climbers in a few years if left alone and only the dead wood is cut out when needed.
Even on hybrid teas severe pruning is not needed except to make the blooms larger and they will actually bloom sooner and more abundantly if pruned lightly.

Use hedge clippers when doing a severe pruning to keep the bush a specific size or under control. After they leaf out you can not tell the difference between those and the ones you prune cane by cane. Remove dead wood when needed tho.

And as far as deadheading, a rose trial at the Royal National Rose Society gardens in England demonstrated that if the dead rose is clipped off at the neck instead of further down the stem as has been the previous rule, the bush will rebloom sooner with 50 percent more flowers during the season.

 

Gardengater, a bare root plant of any kind takes longer to start growing above the ground because it is spending the first year or so putting out good roots. Once those roots are well established then you will start seeing green growth.