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  Steve Streener November 18, 2015 at 10:18am

  Depends on the type really. Most roses will benefit from a late winter prune in February or March. This definitely applies to hybrid tea, shrub and floribunda roses which most people will have in their borders. If you are in the south prune in February and if you are in the north prune in March.

  Try not to prune now as pruning too early may cause buds to start growing in mild weather only to be killed by a late frost. You can take the tops off long canes or tidy them by removing dead growth and suggest later pruning in winter. Also don't prune later than March as the sap is actively growing and this can be as bad as pruning too early.

  I'm in the north and learned from experience. I lost plants that were pruned too early.

  You can renovate roses at any time that need it and remove any diseased or dying wood as you come across it. Ramblers for instance are usually pruned in late summer but normal climbers can be pruned in late winter also.

  Hope that helps. Just shout if you need any more.
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  Paul McNulty November 18, 2015 at 12:16pm

  If they're going to be moved I'd do it now: I moved one of my own a couple of weekends ago and it's fine. So long as it isn't frozen, of course.
  
  I always prune roses back early winter, and if I was moving them definitely so as you don't want top-heavy plants rocking around when they're newly planted. I then do a "proper" prune late winter as Steve has said.
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    Peter > Paul McNulty November 21, 2015 at 3:54pm

    Same as Paul, I take the tops out of bush roses now to avoid wind damage but then do more severe prune in late February.  I have read differing opinions on when to move roses, as long as they are dormant then I think it's ok to do it anytime over winter.  I think it's better to move them earlier as then they have more time to settle in before the next growing season but I don't think it matters too much.  
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  Geoff Norfolk November 21, 2015 at 4:30pm

  I usually do the "proper" prune in November although its really recommended to be done in early Spring...... never had a problem though...... roses are pretty tough.. I would do it at the recommended Feb/March but invariably my customers aren't ready for gardening so that by the time I do get to them, its getting a bit late.
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    Paul McNulty > Geoff Norfolk November 21, 2015 at 9:38pm

    It's a great way to get the clients on to direct debit, Geoff!
    
    Think about it. They pay a bit less, but you do the work at the right time of year. You get your income spread out over the year, and clients are less liely to look for another gardener if they are on a regular payment. Offer it as a discounted payment plan, and everyone wins.
    
    Whenever clients are getting plants pruned at the wrong time, they might welcome a better option that costs them less and benefits them more?
    
    I know it's boring, but I now have me car and van tax on monthly payments, along with my boiler cover, dentist's scheme, house insurance, it goes on and on. People love knowing they pay a regualar monthly fee, and the roses are pruned at the right time: what client would actively choose "you might get lucky with pruning, but I'm going to do it at the wrong time"?
    • PRO

      Green Girl Garden Care > Paul McNulty November 22, 2015 at 7:46am

      I agree. I take the long stragley bits off now and do a hard prune in late Jan or Feb as we're south coast so pretty mild and I use things like this as a reason to encourage customers to have us come year round.
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      Geoff Norfolk > Paul McNulty November 22, 2015 at 8:27am

      I know you're right there Paul..... it really would make things a lot simpler!!
    • PRO

      Richard Gadsby > Paul McNulty March 16, 2016 at 4:50pm

      I really don't see how being paid less is an incentive to swop over to monthly. That's what savings accounts are for.
      I like to get the money in the bank and do nothing or other works in winter.
      I can see if you are not good at saving it would have benefits. But why give a discount ?
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  Austin Campbell March 16, 2016 at 3:11pm

  Thought I'd try a bump on this thread to save opening a new one.
  
  I've just taken over a garden and went for my first maintenance visit today. There are a lot of floribunda and carpet roses which weren't pruned 2014/2015 and haven't been touched 2015/2016. There are still loads of dead heads on all of them and the floribundas are looking especially tall and leggy. The customer has asked me to prune all of the roses (both types) to avoid them going another year untouched, but they have already started putting on quite a bit of new growth for this year. I'm not sure if it will be ok to give them a decent pruning without setting them back too much or worse. We are in North East England but things are warming up now and everything is really taking off.
  
  Can anyone offer any advice as to whether or not it's too late to prune, given that new growth seems well underway?
  
  Thanks
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    Graham Taylor > Austin Campbell March 16, 2016 at 4:30pm

    I'm sure you'll be fine............roses are a lot tougher than many people imagine and I find they're quite hard to kill! I've given roses a really heavy prune this time of year, removing a lot of new growth and although it knocks them back a few weeks, they're fine.