Pruning Your Hybrid Tea Roses!

Late October and November is a great time to tip back your hybrid tea roses.

Often during a hard winter, the stems of these roses can break at the base due to snow or ice build-up on the plant.

• Prune your hybrid tea roses back to about 30" from the ground in October. This should help prevent damage from the weight of ice and snow.

The main pruning of hybrid tea roses should take place in the spring after the threat of cold weather.

Yearly pruning will keep them blooming at their best.

• In the spring, when the Forsythia are in full bloom, it is time to prune your hybrid tea roses, floribunda roses, and grandiflora roses.
• Select about 5-6 of the strongest, healthiest, and greenest canes to keep and thin out the remainder of the stems. Cut your strong canes back to 6" - 12" from the ground.
• Cut any winter-damaged stems back to healthy green wood.
• When you are finished, the remaining 5-6 canes should be well spaced and the center of the rose should be fairly open.