# Pruning roses in April? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210 "2016-03-16T20:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/1 "2016-03-16T20:30:13Z")
Ordinarily I would have pruned our roses in mid-January. This year, however, owing to other preoccupations, I have not yet done so. The stems are, as one might imagine, quite ungainly now, and a nuisance to us when working in the rose planter–weeding, for example. Is it too late to prune? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/2 "2016-03-16T21:09:13Z")
Roses are extremely tough. Go ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/3 "2016-03-16T22:35:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Roses are extremely tough. Go ahead. Rule of Thumb in the Pacific Northwest is pruning should occur Presidents Day weekend in February. So say the experts at the [International Rose Test Garden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Rose_Test_Garden). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/4 "2016-03-16T22:45:35Z")
Where are you? Northern Siberia? Ecuador? Tierra del Fuego? Do you think it doesn’t matter? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/5 "2016-03-16T22:50:23Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Ordinarily I would have pruned our roses in mid-January. This year, however, owing to other preoccupations, I have not yet done so. The stems are, as one might imagine, quite ungainly now, and a nuisance to us when working in the rose planter–weeding, for example. > Is it too late to prune? Here in Minnesota, it’s very hard to prune roses in April, let alone January. It’s just so much work to shovel the 3-5 feet of show off of them, and you risk damaging the plants with your snow shovel. Most people wait until May or June here. But that may vary depending on your location. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/6 "2016-03-16T22:51:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Where are you? Northern Siberia? Ecuador? Tierra del Fuego? Do you think it doesn’t matter? Gardena, southern Los Angeles County, California. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/7 "2016-03-17T05:00:46Z")
Best major pruning in February. As my roses bloom all year long I prune them all year long to keep them blooming. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/8 "2016-03-17T07:33:17Z")
I learned to prune the roses when the forsythia bloomed. So. Last year it didn’t bloom till very late in March; this year it bloomed in late Feb. Of course Feb had an extra day. However, I don’t know when the forsythia blooms elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/9 "2016-03-17T14:37:48Z")
I wouldn’t recognize a forsythia if it bit me on the nose. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/10 "2016-03-17T15:16:55Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I wouldn’t recognize a forsythia if it bit me on the nose. Beware the wily dwarf forsythia, they bite much lower. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pruning-roses-in-april/749210/11 "2016-03-17T15:38:41Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > Beware the wily dwarf forsythia, they bite much lower. 😉 Thanks for the warning. :eek: