In an earlier article, published March 13, I wrote about the importance of the proper pruning techniques of roses (“Growing Together: How to prune your roses to keep them healthy and blooming“). Regular removal of dead, damaged and diseased stems encourages healthy growth and helps prevent diseases such as black spot and powdery mildew.

Pruning also improves air circulation through the plant, helping to reduce diseases as well. Another benefit of proper pruning of roses is that it encourages more flowers.

When you remove spent flowers and old growth, the plant responds by producing new growth that then will produce more flower buds. Most likely, your roses are in full bloom at the time. As blooms begin to fade, it is important to remove the spent blooms.

For us, the reason we plant certain things in our garden is to enjoy the flowers. The plant’s goal, though, is not just to flower but to produce seeds to reproduce itself. By removing the flowers as soon as they are done, the plant produces more flowers to produce more seeds. So, deadheading produces more blooms.

Start to deadhead when you see the rose petals begin to droop or fall off. All that you will need is a pair of secateurs (hand pruners) and gloves.

When removing the flowers that have finished blooming, do not just remove the flower itself. The correct way to deadhead a rose is to cut just above a leaf set that has five or more leaves. The five-leaf set (sometimes called a true leaf) should be facing the direction you want your shoot to grow.

Normally, you want your rose shoot to grow outward — cut just above a five-leaf set that is pointing outwards as well. Cutting at the three-leaf set level can result in a non-flowering shoot called “blind wood.” This means the shoot can no longer flower or grow any more roses.

However, the blind wood may flower the next season. You do not have to cut your shoot at the first five-leaf set you see. Sometimes, a leaf set might be facing the wrong direction, and you’ll need to cut further down.

It is best to cut the stem at a 45-degree angle, sloping down from the five-leaf set. This method of deadheading is for all types of roses — hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas and climbing roses.

In my article from March 13, I also wrote about training a climbing rose. In fact, with climbing roses, the training of the rose is more important than the pruning.

Most plants, including roses, just bloom at the tips of the branches, but you can manipulate the canes so that you can get blossoms all along the cane and not just at the tips. You want to start training the main canes from the time that you plant them.

The main canes need to be trained in a fanned-out shape, training them to run horizontally. By doing this, not only will you get flowers at the tip of the cane, but you will get flowers all along the cane.

Even during the summer, you can train the canes to increase flowering for the next season. Here are the steps to training a climbing rose:

Step 1: Remove any dead, diseased or damaged branches. Also, remove any weak canes or canes that are growing out away from the structure that you are training the rose on.
Step 2: Fasten any remaining main canes to the structure in a horizontal fashion.
Step 3: Off of the main canes, you will have lateral stems growing – prune back the lateral stems to two or three buds.

You can see from the photos how training the cane horizontally greatly increases the number of flowers to be enjoyed.

After deadheading your rose plant, consider applying a balanced fertilizer to provide nutrients to the rose bush. Additionally, keep an eye on the plant for any signs of pests, diseases or nutrient deficiencies.

Following these steps will help to keep your roses healthy and floriferous.

Joanne Young is a Niagara-on-the-Lake garden expert and coach. See her website at joanneyoung.ca