When and how to prune bush roses?

Pruning bush roses: the right actions for beautiful flowering

Differences as concerns Bush rose and shrub rose

The bush rose is a rose with a spreading habit and measures between 60 cm and 1.20 m depending on the varieties. Finally, it bears either large solitary flowers (perfect for cut flower arrangements) or smaller flowers, but grouped in clusters. These include Polyantha, Floribunda, Hybrid teas, some repeat flowering hybrids, a few English roses, and Portland roses. It is an ideal rose for borders or mass planting.

The shrub rose has the same characteristics, but it is significantly taller: between 1.20 and 1.80 m. This includes Musk hybrids, Bourbon roses, some repeat flowering hybrids, and many English roses. They are particularly suitable for mass planting, positioned at the back for the taller varieties. As with bushes, the timing for pruning roses plays an important role in their health and flowering.

Shrub rose ‘Mozart’

When to prune bush roses?

The period for pruning bush or repeat flowering roses is at the end of winter or the beginning of spring depending on your climate; ideally, this should be done just before the vegetation starts to grow again, when you see some buds swelling. Pruning roses in autumn is certainly possible. Just carry out a light clean-up a few months beforehand. For this, discover our article: “How to prune roses in autumn.”

Meanwhile, the pruning of non-repeat flowering roses is done just after flowering, in August.

How to prune a bush rose?

Here’s how to properly prune your bush rose:

• Start by removing dead wood, damaged or weak stems, especially if autumn pruning has not been carried out.
• Check that your rose has not produced suckers, these vigorous shoots that often emerge from the rootstock. If so, remove them without delay (To learn how to identify a sucker, refer to the article: Help, my rose is degenerating).
• Aerate the centre of the branches by removing the shoots that grow inwards, to improve air circulation and reduce the risk of fungal diseases.
• Most often, retain 3 to 5 main branches, evenly distributed. On roses with small flowers, you can leave more branches.
• Then make a slanted cut, about 0.5 cm above an outward-facing eye of the rose.
• If you are unsure between two branches growing in the same direction, keep the younger one. Finally, also check our advice sheet on pruning roses.
• Finally, prune non-repeat flowering bush and shrub roses by simply removing 1/3 of each branch just after flowering.

1. remove dead wood; 2. remove weak or poorly directed twigs; 3. prune 1/3 of each branch[/caption>

Our tips:

There are several schools of thought regarding pruning. Some gardeners practice very short pruning, while others only lightly tip the branches. Personally, I recommend moderate pruning, which involves removing one third to half of each branch while ensuring a balanced silhouette.
Another method I appreciate is to prune the weakest shoots to 2 or 3 eyes and the vigorous branches to 5 or 6 eyes.
I discourage severe pruning outside of rejuvenation cuts, which should be done every 3 to 4 years at most. Over-shortening the branches weakens the rose, encourages the formation of stubs, and complicates recovery in the event of late frosts. If you do choose to carry out short pruning, wait until the end of winter when the risk of frost has passed.

? Bush rose pruning table

Special case: pegging

The pegging technique applies to shrub roses that produce long branches that shoot upwards with unfortunate tips. In this case, the pruning will be different. To learn more, consult our article: “Pegging roses“.