I It may seem like you can garden 365 days a year in Los Angeles, but the truth is, plants need a break and some healthy maintenance, especially roses. Given a chance, roses would continue to grow… and grow… and before long, you would have a leggy, unattractive mess. That’s why winter is the best time to prune roses to ensure a future of continuing blooms.

Determining when to prune incorporates a lot of factors and can’t always be scheduled by the calendar. You want to trim and prune when the new buds are just beginning to swell, but you don’t want them to be too far long. That new growth will help with where you prune. Roses bloom from new growth, so pruning removes old growth for the best blooming potential. The first step is to prune for shape. Remove crossing branches and create an attractive vase shape for your rose plant. When you’re first starting out, don’t trim too much. This is just an initial pass.

Next, look at how the new branches are growing. You generally want the new branches growing in an open space, reaching for the sun. When cutting off entire branches, try to leave very short, almost nonexistent stubs. Always cut down so there’s no upward stub left.

When pruning roses for future flowers, only leave two to three buds as low on the branch as possible. Avoid the temptation of keeping lots of buds. It might seem like you’ll have more flowers, but those flowers also suck up energy. It’s better to have to one or two branches with large, healthy flowers, then many spindly branches with weak and small blooms.