🌼 Forsythia Are Blooming — Time to Prune Your Roses!

When you see bright yellow Forsythia in bloom, it’s your natural cue that rose pruning season has arrived. Timing your pruning with nature helps ensure your roses wake up strong, healthy, and ready to thrive.

—-> we have Forsythia in stock if you want to plant!

✂️ The Basics of Pruning Roses

Start by cutting each cane back to live wood — you’re looking for a cream-colored center with a green rim.

Make your cut about ¼ inch above an outward-facing bud. This encourages growth away from the center of the plant, improving airflow and shape.

🌹 Hybrid Tea & Grandiflora Roses

For these classic, large-blooming roses:

• Remove any dead, diseased, or damaged wood

• Select 3–5 strong, healthy stems to keep

• Cut stems back to 12–18 inches tall

• Always prune to an outward-facing bud

This creates an open, vase-like shape, allowing light and air to circulate—key for preventing disease and encouraging big, beautiful blooms.

🌸 Floribunda & Shrub Roses

These varieties are a bit more relaxed in their pruning needs:

• Remove dead, diseased, or damaged wood

• Lightly shape the plant

• Trim out weak or inward-growing branches

The goal here is to maintain a natural shape while keeping the plant healthy and open.

🌱 First-Year Roses (Planted Last Year)

Go easy on newer roses!

• Only remove dead, damaged, or diseased wood

• Avoid heavy pruning

Young roses need as many leaves as possible to build strong roots and establish themselves.

pro tip …. The cut does not need to be at an angle, but most important is to use a sharpened bypass pruner for a clean cut. We have so many choices a t DIG and it’s best to hold the tool in your hand for the most comfortable fit.

🌿 Need a Hand?

If you’re unsure where to start or want personalized advice, feel free to stop by and chat with us—we’re always happy to help you grow with confidence!

**this information was compiled from Stephanie