pruning roses

[carmalee]

Have a high, thick rose bush which needs pruning. There just seems to be lots of stems growing from ground level which have increasingly branched out the higher it goes. Had lots of small, pretty roses on up to December. Suspect the previous owners hacked it back to about a height of 3ft six on a regular basis. Is this enough info for anyone to give me some advice? Many thanks

[welshlibranr]

Not a specialist by any means! but I don't think you should prune now, because frost will maybe kill it, I think you need to wait until after the last frost, and prune it back in the Spring, it'll shoot again then and be much more healthy, especially if you feed it too...............hope this helps a little......welsh

[carlton23]

These shoots need to be cut out right back to the main stem underground as they are `suckers` and will not be any good. Wait until half way through March to prune if you live in the South of the UK, or May in the North. Cut back to about 1ft high about 5mm above an outward pointing `bud` with sharp secateurs and don`t leave any jagged edges. Give a good dressing of Hoof and Horn (approx a handful) around the plant and keep it off the stems, then carefully fork it in with a small hand fork. HTH`s

[carmalee]

many thanks for the advice - hope tp have a stunning show later this year now!