Pruning climbing roses: when & how to cut back?

Climbing roses only retain their desired shape with regular pruning. To help you avoid incorrectly pruning your climbing roses, we tell you when the right time to prune climbing roses is and what proper pruning looks like.

If you let nature take its course in the growth of your climbing roses and rambler roses, the plants will grow upwards without detours. This is not a problem in itself, since everyone likes to save space in the garden. However, the rose (Rosa) will then also flower less abundantly. Therefore, proper pruning is essential to prevent your climbing rose from becoming bare at the bottom and to ensure you enjoy many flowers. In this way, you will promote the formation of flowers and beautiful, romantic growth in the various varieties of climbing roses.

Do you have to prune climbing roses?

Do you have to prune climbing roses? The answer to this question is quite clear: it depends. A climbing rose survives without pruning and will bloom. However, the flowering will be much less and weaken over the years. In addition, many varieties of climbing roses without a pruning gradually become extremely large, can no longer be fixed to scaffolds and can quickly become annoying with their spiny shoots. So, climbing roses are pruned so that they bloom beautifully and because they need to be tamed a little in our gardens so that they do not develop into a thorny thicket.

Pruning climbing roses: the basics

To make sure that the pruning of your climbing rose is really successful, we have prepared a little guide for you in advance. Always use clean and sharp rose shears to avoid bruising the cut. Pruning shears or a pruning saw can sometimes be used for very old roses. Cut at a site about five millimetres above an outward facing bud. Do not leave a large stub and make the cut at a slight angle. After pruning, attach free shoots to the vine support if necessary.

Summary: The basics of pruning climbing roses

• Use sharp and clean rose shears, loppers or a pruning saw
• Make incision obliquely and about 5 mm above an outward facing bud
• Do not leave stubs
• Attach the remaining shoots to the climbing support

Correctly pruning climbing roses in spring, summer and autumn

Whether you are pruning young climbing roses or rejuvenating old climbing roses, the timing and type of pruning is always aimed at a vigorous plant and a strong flower set.

Cutting back climbing roses in the spring

Spring is the main season for pruning roses. Plant pruning as well as thinning and maintenance pruning are performed in the spring.

Pruning climbing roses after planting

Are you planting a rose in the spring or have you already added a beautiful new resident to your garden in the autumn? No matter when you plant, the associated planting pruning is carried out only in the spring. Proceed as follows:

1. Remove dead or diseased wood at the base or transition to healthy wood
2. Remove comparatively thin shoots
3. Shoots should not be too close, cross or even rub against each other. Remove excess shoots
4. If necessary, remove wild shoots that grow up from the rootstock of the rose
5. Shorten all shoot tips by 10 cm to stimulate further branching

Tip: Do not prune your roses if many frosty days and nights are still expected. If you have forsythia in the garden, you can use their beginning of flowering as a guide. This is because the flowering of the forsythia marks the beginning of spring in the phenological calendar, indicating that warmer days are now likely to follow.

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Maintenance pruning in the spring

When it comes to annual maintenance pruning, it is crucial to know about your rose’s blooming habits. Depending on how this is, you will find different instructions for the correct pruning of your climbing roses in each of the guides below.

Are they once-flowering or continuous-flowering roses?

• Once-flowering climbing roses show their colourful flowers in the spring – then they do not bloom throughout the year. Most climbing roses are once-flowering
• Continuous-flowering climbing roses, on the other hand, have a first wave of flowering in the spring and a second in the summer

Annual maintenance pruning promotes abundant flowering, multiple branching and ensures that the rose remains vigorous and vital, rather than old, senescent and lazy in bloom.

When pruning climbing roses in the spring, proceed as follows:

• Remove dead, frostbitten or diseased wood at the base or transition to healthy wood
• Remove comparatively thin shoots
• Shoots should not be too close, cross or even rub against each other. Remove excess shoots
• If necessary, remove wild shoots that grow up from the rootstock of the rose
• For once-flowering climbing roses, older shoots that are lazy to flower can be removed at the base or just above the emergence of a younger shoot in the spring
• For continuous-flowering climbing roses, all side shoots are shortened to 3 to 5 buds (about 15 cm) in the spring after the first wave of flowering. In addition, for climbing roses that bloom continuously, older shoots that are lazy to bloom can be removed at the base or just above the emergence of a younger shoot in the spring

Tip: Strong leading shoots of the climbing rose can remain on the rose for three to four years. After that, their flowering usually decreases, and they should be removed in favour of younger, new leading shoots.

Pruning climbing roses in summer

Only in the case of climbing roses that bloom continuously, remove the faded side shoots repeatedly throughout the blooming season. In this way, the plant diligently always forms new flowers, as it aims to produce seeds for reproduction.
Once-flowering climbing roses, on the contrary, are not pruned in summer.
If you want to keep beautiful red rose hips in winter for decoration and bird food, do not remove the last flowers of roses.

Tip: When cutting faded climbing roses, remove not only the flower with the flower stalk, but the entire small shoot with all the flowers attached. The rest of the side shoot would die off later anyway and could serve as an entry point for fungal diseases if it remains on the plant.

Cutting back climbing roses in autumn

Climbing roses can also be pruned in autumn. However, this is only recommended if the rose is in a sheltered spot and mild winters are common in the region. Good winter protection in the form of fir branches or bast mats also makes pruning in autumn possible. Pruning in autumn is done in the same way as in spring, but should be a little less radical as a precaution.

Pruning rambler roses

Rambler roses are called “climbing roses” and have special characteristics. Their shoots are less stiff and firm. They grow less sparsely and branched, but rather in long canes upwards or creeping along the ground. Almost all ramblers flower only once a year, but there are big differences in the timing. From spring to late summer, all times are possible, depending on the variety. Rambler roses should always be pruned after they have finished flowering, which can be in spring, summer or autumn, depending on the variety.

Instructions: Pruning rambler roses

• Remove dead or diseased wood at the base or at the transition to healthy wood.
• Remove comparatively thin shoots
• Shoots should not be too close together, crossing or even rubbing against each other. Remove excess shoots
• Remove older, lazy shoots at the base or just above the emergence of a younger shoot.
• Shorten all faded side shoots to 2 to 3 eyes

Summary: Prune climbing roses correctly

• Climbing roses are thinned out at planting time by removing dead, diseased and too close wood. All shoots are shortened by 10 cm.
• In spring or autumn, thinning and maintenance pruning is carried out. This mainly involves removing or shortening old and diseased shoots. Radical rejuvenation pruning is also possible. In the case of climbing roses that flower more often, after the first wave of flowering, the flowered side shoots are shortened to 3 to 5 eyes.
• Once summer has arrived, remove only the flowered side shoots of climbing roses that flower more often.
• In the case of rambler roses, after flowering all flowered side shoots should be shortened to 2 to 3 eyes.
• It is possible and important to remove wild shoots all year round.

Pruning old climbing roses: rejuvenation pruning

Old roses tend to flower less and grow only slowly and with thin shoots. In addition to the correct rose fertilisation, a rejuvenation pruning of the old climbing rose can help here.

• All climbing roses can be given a rejuvenating pruning in spring if necessary. This involves removing all shoots except the youngest ones close to the ground. If no young shoots have grown, all shoots are shortened by half in one year. In the following year, young shoots should have emerged and the old ones can be removed completely.
• Radical pruning is also possible for rambler roses that have grown too large. For this, almost all shoots are removed close to the ground after flowering. Only the young shoots from the current year remain.

Tip: Regular rejuvenation pruning is essential, especially when it comes to pruning climbing roses on the rose arch. Shoots that are too old and thick are no longer flexible and can hardly be removed from the framework, but they hardly flower any more. Therefore, always make sure to remove old shoots and direct new canes into the rose arch.

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Are you interested in the care of climbing roses and would like to be crowned rose king with the most and most beautiful flowers every year? We explain how you should care for climbing roses and thus increase flowering.