You can actually cut roses back pretty hard without killing them. The best time to prune is in the spring – specifically, right after it comes out of dormancy, when you can see the little bits of leaf buds and you can tell what’s alive, what’s dead [cut off all dead wood], and what direction things are going to grow in. New branches will develop from the crotch (no, seriously, that’s what it’s called) of the joint between the main stem that you just cut and the leaf bud closest to it. (Look at your left hand. Pretend that your four fingers are the main trunk, and your thumb is the bud. If you cut off the main trunk, the new branch will emerge from the web between your thumb and your hand.) By choosing where to cut, you can influence which direction the new growth will go – basically, outward is better.
Trunk – I don’t know nothin’ 'bout no bonsai – hopefully someone who does will come along.
