In her weekly newsletter, Growing Wonder with Felicia Alvarez: Simple Tips for Thriving Roses, Gardens & Homes, Felicia offers expert advice to help you cultivate stunning roses, vibrant gardens, and welcoming homes. Each edition features a subscriber-submitted question, where Felicia provides thoughtful answers to your rose, garden, and home-related queries. This Q&A was originally featured as a highlighted question from one of our subscribers, published in the newsletter.
Q: "I have climbing roses. Where do I prune the canes?"
Submitted by: Robbie from Delafield, Wisconsin - Zone 5, Home Gardener
- Main Canes (Structural Canes): These are the thick, older canes form the structural framework of the rose, much like the framing of a house. These main canes provide support for the lateral canes and blooms, which are the "building materials" added on top. Avoid cutting these main canes unless they are dead, diseased, or excessively old (typically over 4-5 years), as they serve as the essential foundation for your climbing rose.
- Lateral Canes (Flowering Canes): These grow from the main canes and produce flowers. These should be pruned regularly to encourage more blooms.
- Once-Blooming Climbers (Old Garden & Some Hybrid Roses): Prune after flowering in summer, as they bloom on old wood.
- Repeat-Blooming Climbers (Modern Climbers, Some David Austin, etc.): Prune in late winter to early spring (before new growth begins) to encourage fresh, vigorous flowering. For Zone 5 ideally you would be pruning in early to mid April.
- Remove Dead, Diseased, or Damaged Lateral or Main Canes: Cut these back to the base or a healthy part of the cane.
- Shape & Thin the Rose: Remove weak, twiggy growth and cut out crossing canes to improve airflow.
- Shorten Lateral Canes: Cut lateral branches (the smaller flowering stems growing from main canes) back to 2-3 outward-facing buds (about 6-12 inches long). This stimulates new growth and more flowers.
- Train Canes Horizontally: Instead of cutting back healthy main canes, tie them to your support structure at an angle or horizontally—this encourages more lateral shoots and flowers. The closer to 90 degrees the more blooms and lateral canes the rose will produce.
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