How to Prune Zephirine Drouhin Roses

Zephirine Drouhin roses are a variety of climbing rose that grows tall instead of growing outward in a bushy form. This variety has very few thorns, making maintaining and pruning it less hazardous than with other rose varieties. The Zephirine Drouhin produces pink colored blooms in the spring that look like carnations and emit a pleasant fragrance. Pruning Zephirine Drouhin roses promotes additional blooms and creates a more symmetrical, attractive form as it matures.

Things You'll Need

Hand pruners
Cotton swab

Wood glue

Instructions

- 1
  Wait until midspring, after the Zephirine Drouhin rose has begun to flower and the first set of blooms are wilting.
- 2
  Cut off all canes that are gray or brown, or that have no buds on them, since they are dead. Make these cuts as close as possible to the surface of the soil using the hand pruners. Discard the dead stems in a compost area.
- 3
  Choose the five or six healthiest and thickest canes, which will be the ones that flower again this season. You will not prune these stems.
- 4
  Cut all remaining stems back to the ground with the hand pruners, which promotes future bottom growth and foliage.
- 5
  Open a bottle of wood glue and apply a pea-sized amount to a cotton swab. Wipe all pruned sections of the canes with the wood glue to seal it and prevent infestation by pests.
- 6
  Wait until the Zephirine Drouhin produces new blooms and then examine them daily to locate those that are dead or beginning to wilt. Cut off the deteriorating blooms using hand pruners, which is called deadheading. Always cut the stem 1/4 inch above a set of leaves or 1/4 inch above a bud and angle the cut outward.

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