Rose pruning question

RubyLeaf

Hi all. I pruned one of my floribunda roses a week or two ago, about half of its height, which meant taking off all the new top growth. I've still got more to learn about rose pruning, but I'm wondering if I took too much off. I can't see any new growth atm on the lower parts. Will it have new growth later?

Nollie

Hi @RubyLeaf. Well if you have lopped off all the top shoots, where the clusters of rose buds will/were developing, you will have set it back a bit, but don’t worry, it will recover and throw out new shoots. Ideally you want to do the pruning in late winter/early March, before new growth takes off, but after any heavy frosts, so timing does depend, you can prune earlier in the south than in the north.

I tend to just give my floribundas a light tidy up to keep the overall shape, as the ones I have don’t need much and haven’t got out of control (yet!). I don’t think they need severe pruning, normally, but perhaps some are more vigorous than others...

RubyLeaf

Nollie said:

Hi @RubyLeaf. Well if you have lopped off all the top shoots, where the clusters of rose buds will/were developing, you will have set it back a bit, but don’t worry, it will recover and throw out new shoots. Ideally you want to do the pruning in late winter/early March, before new growth takes off, but after any heavy frosts, so timing does depend, you can prune earlier in the south than in the north.

I tend to just give my floribundas a light tidy up to keep the overall shape, as the ones I have don’t need much and haven’t got out of control (yet!). I don’t think they need severe pruning, normally, but perhaps some are more vigorous than others...

Thanks for replying. I admit I left it too late, and normally I would of left them, but I was giving one away to my grandparents, and the height it was originally may not of fit in the car. The other one I'm moving to the front garden.

Nollie

Oh that makes sense, then, as to why you hard pruned them. They will also take a bit of time to settle in their new location so don’t worry if they take a bit longer to catch up. Again, ideally, better to move when dormant, but I have moved a rose when in leaf and it survived fine.