Deadheading roses

[Engelsemama]

I am a gardening numptie.

Last year a neighbour gave us a few rose bushes and I didn't deadhead them.

Should I do it now or just leave them? Will it do more harm than good?

It's still pretty cold here but there's been no snow on the ground for at least a month. We've had a few frosts and still below zero first thing in the morning.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Now is the right time to prune them, a bit late but it's still cold enough.

You can look up instructions to do this but essentially it's:

1. Look at the base, if it 3 shoots and one is a lot punier than the others, cut it off plus any weird suckers (long spindly bits randomly appearing)
   

1. Reduce overall size by a third leaving 2 thirds remaining
   

1. New mulch round the base.

[Engelsemama]

Thanks Laurie.

Should it be done when it's cold then? I was worried that doing them now when it's still not properly warmed up would damage them more!

[LaurieFairyCake]

A light prune can be done in autumn but the hard prune is in winter - January/February time - basically before it gets a load of new buds on.

Roses are well 'ard