Advice on pruning cold damaged roses

[IstandwithJackieWeaver]

Can I hard prune the shrub and rambling roses I've got that were affected by the recent cold snap and snow? The leaves have had it, but I'm worried the plants are already stressed and a hard prune might do for them. That said, they should be dormant so it could be okay.

[Beebumble2]

I’d prune off all the damage stems and leave 3 or 4 long stems in good condition. If you tie them back in a fan shape new flowering stems should grow up vertically.

[IstandwithJackieWeaver]

Thanks for that tip - appreciate it.

[MereDintofPandiculation]

My mother used to tell me there were two ways to prune roses: you could do it in the autumn, then the new growth would be taken out by a late frost. Or you could do it in spring, and then over winter the wind would rock the shrubs and batter the soil round the roots into a water-retaining puddle so the roots would rot. Your choice of pruning would depend on whetehr you felt wind rock or late frost was the greater danger.

So pruning off frost damaged stems is something the autumn-pruners are used to doing.

[TalktotheFoot]

They are last year's leaves anyway, so that isn't a problem at all. There's loads of rose pruning advice on the RHS website.