How to Prune a Rose Bush in Full Bloom

Put on heavy leather garden gloves to avoid cuts from the thorns. Check the rose plant over carefully. Look for dead or damaged canes and insect infestation. Pruning won't remove insects, but damaged cans must be removed to prevent plant weakening.

Cut dead canes back to the point of still-living sections, or cut them completely if the entire cane is dead. Cut the cane at ground level when removing the entire cane. Use the saw on large woody canes that the pruning shears won't easily cut through.

Clip any diseased canes off at the point of the bud union below the damage. The bud union is the knot at the base of the cane where the canes start. Another spot to clip a can is just above a living knot in the stem. A knot is where a leaf stem or bud stem is joined to the main cane. Pruning at a knot typically means two more stems will come from that spot during the next growth.

Remove any canes that cross over each other in the middle of the plant and rub together. Thin the weakest or oldest can and leave the one that is strongest.

Leave old wood that is alive in canes for roses that bloom once a year. This type of rose will only bloom on existing wood canes, so pruning these away will mean no blooms for at least a year.

Dispose of all diseased or insect-infested debris and canes when pruning is finished. Clear the ground of any that have fallen as well. Leaving damaged, infected or insect-infested canes can spread the problem back to the plant, and open canes are vulnerable when just pruned.