The middle of March is the best time to prune your roses and it is necessary to do this to maintain their health. In general there are a few things to keep in mind. Use good, sharp clippers and leather gloves. For hybrid teas examine the bush for dead (gray or black) canes and remove them and any crossing canes as well as any cane less than a pencil’s width. Ultimately the bush should have a vase shape and be empty in the middle. Take the height down to about 2′ by choosing the best looking canes and trimming them to an outward facing bud. The cut should be about 1/2″ above the bud on an angle. You may wind up with only 4 or 5 canes but that’s ok. Knock Out roses can be pruned a little less carefully but you still want to remove dead and crossing canes. Decide how high you want the rose to be and cut it about 2′ lower than that. You can shape it at this time for a pleasing appearance and thin it out a little but it’s not necessary to make it a vase shape. Some people use hedge clippers on their knock outs!
Mid March is also the time to start your fertilizing program. First, read the directions on the bag. If you are using a high tech fertilizer like Plant Trust spread the fertilizing out over 4 times from March to mid August. If using Rose Tone fertilize every middle of the month until mid August.
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