pruning rose bushes.when and how

Question

do I cut the rose bushes back to ground level and remove the rose hips for tea?

Answer 1

You can remove the rose hips for many uses or leave them on the bushes for the birds. I do not prune rose bushes down to the ground unless I am sure the canes have died back that far. For my winter pruning I prune the rosebushes down a bit and thin them out once some good hard freezes have hit them so they have gone dormant. This light pruning helps prevent the winter winds from whipping the canes and damaging them. It also thins out the growth to help prevent the heavy snows from causing crushing damage to the canes. Here is a link to an article I wrote on pruning for you: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/roses/pruning-roses.htm