Now's a good time to prune your roses.

We get this question all the time, “When should you prune a rose and how do you do it?" As for when, our Northwest rule of green thumb is President’s Day weekend is normally safe for your final rose pruning.

This "rule" applies to growing regions similar to those up and down the I-5 corridor. If it’s been really cold or you live in a colder region, you should hold off some. And you can judge by something more precise than this rule of thumb. Take a look at the buds. If they're just breaking dormancy... swelling a bit, possibly reddish looking... it should be safe to prune.

Now for how to prune a rose: You want to get rid of all of last year’s foliage, old blooms, rose hips, and dead wood (brittle brown or black canes). Cut canes at an angle, about a 1/4" above a bud. Ideally, you'll end up with 3-5 relatively short, thick, healthy canes (thickness of rose canes is very important as you need heavy canes to support lots of blooms). Your strategy on pruning should be to keep the center of the bush open and to promote strong new cane growth from the bud union at the base of the plant.

And don’t be afraid of pruning too much. In fact, it's safe to say most gardeners don’t prune away enough from their rose bushes, and so don't encourage the rose to throw new canes. Promoting new cane growth every year is vital to a rose's continued healthy growth as existing canes won't remain vital, healthy producers forever.

Prune your roses every year, and you’ll enjoy a healthier, heartier performer. See you out there with the clippers.

While much of the information in these tips is applicable in several gardening zones/climates, some of the plants and timing suggested are best suited to the Northwest, generally in the mild/wet growing regions found along the I-5 corridor. You should make appropriate adjustments or consult local gardening experts in regions whose climates differ from this area of the Northwest.