Prune a rambling rose

About rambling roses

Rambling roses are great for quickly covering walls, fences and garden structures with shoots clad with glossy green leaves and masses of pretty flowers. Fortunately, these useful and hard working plants don’t need very much pruning to keep them in good shape and only need trimming once a year for a great floral display.

When to prune

The speed at which rambling roses grow can lead to a mass of tangled stems, which can result in poor flowering and makes the perfect environment for diseases to prosper. Pruning in late summer or early autumn will boost the plant’s potential next year and improve air circulation, keeping plants healthy.

How to prune

• Use secateurs to completely remove very thin, dead, diseased or dying stems. If stems are thick, cut with loppers.
• Next, take out branches that are outgrowing their allotted space or ruining the shape of the plant.
• Continue to improve the shape of the rose by removing about a third of the older stems. Prune flush with the ground.
• Tie in new, vigorous shoots with garden twine for flowering next year and prune back any sappy growth to encourage flowering the following year.
• Finish by shortening side shoots by about a third and tie in.

Five to try

• Rosa ‘Albertine’ - double coppery pink flower and a sweet perfume
• R. ‘Kew Rambler’ - pretty, pink with a white eye
• R.'Felicite et Perpetue' - clusters of white flowers on long, slender stems
• R. ‘Rambling Rector’ – creamy, semi-double flowers
• R. ‘American Pillar’ - carmine red flowers with a white eye