How To Prune Drift Roses – 10 Steps To Stunning Rose Bushes

Are you wondering how to prune drift roses? Roses can be tricky to prune, but it’s important to understand the best techniques for the types of roses you have. Drift roses, sometimes called shrub roses, are beautiful rose bushes that are surprisingly easier to take care of than regular rose bushes. Drift roses were created to grow to a manageable size and come in a beautiful array of colors. This being said, they still require regular pruning and maintenance.

There are many benefits to pruning your drift roses, including protecting them against disease and encouraging new growth.

Pruning also improves the shape of your plants and makes them healthier. Drift roses that aren’t pruned produce rose hips, which are little seeds that take lots of energy from your drift roses and prevent them from producing more rose buds.

So how do you prune drift roses? In general, it’s an easy task to tend to these plants with colorful flowers. Let’s take a look. 

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Types of Drift Roses

Drift roses are easy-to-care-for groundcover roses that come in a variety of colors to make your garden pop, making them great landscape roses. Here are some popular drift series to consider: 

• Apricot drift
• White drift
• Peach drift
• Blushing drift
• Coral roses
• Pink drift roses
• Popcorn drift
• Lemon drift
• Red drift roses
• Sweet drifts – these are scented roses and will add not only beauty, but also a delicious fragrance as you pass by them every day.

Sometimes people confuse drift roses with “knockout roses“. It’s important to know that these are not the same. They are fairly disease resistant and will provide bushy new growth regularly when cared for properly. In general, they are very low maintenance plants, but it does help to learn how to prune them. 

How To Prune Drift Roses

You will need just a few basic tools in order to have a good time pruning your roses. A good set of garden gloves and some sharp garden clippers will do the trick. 

1. Determine if it’s the right time to prune drift roses

Drift roses are pruned once a year and are generally pruned to 6-8 inches high. To determine if your drift roses are ready to be pruned, you can check them after winter and the first two weeks of spring. When you see new shoots forming on your rose bush, it’s a great indication that it’s the right time to start pruning your drift roses.

This pruning promotes air circulation, preventing fungus and other diseases from growing on your drift roses. After the first flush of rose blooms in the spring, you can prune your drift roses by removing the old flower heads and stems by a third of their length.

2. Gather your pruning tools for pruning your drift roses

Drift roses are easy to trim due to their narrow stems. Typically clippers are used to prune drift roses, but you can also use secateurs. If you don’t have enough time to trim drift roses, you can use hedge trimmers to prune the dead bits off your drift rose bush.

These plants are resilient and will still flourish even if over-pruned. However, clippers should be disinfected between seasonal cutting to avoid mold and fungus growth.

3. Decide where you want to prune your rose bushes

Drift roses grow pretty quickly, especially if they are healthy. Therefore, when inspecting your rose bush, look for areas with dry or dead stems, decaying leaves, and any leaves or stems with spots or other diseases. Once you have identified all the places you want to trim back your drift roses, you can start trimming. Make sure you make clean cuts, with a sharp pair of clippers.

4. Put on gloves before getting started

Before trimming your drift roses, wear gloves.

Drift roses are one of the most thorny rose bushes, and there’s nothing worse than getting pricked by a few thorns while trimming your rose bush. A good pair of gardening gloves can help protect your hands from thorns while pruning.

Make sure you get a longer pair of gloves that protects your forearm. When pruning hard-to-reach places in your rose bush, the longer gloves will protect you from getting scratched or poked by the thorns.

5. Trim dead branches

Using clippers trim dead branches off your drift roses. You can also cut dead leaves. Trim as much as you’d like, since your drift rose bush will likely double or triple in size before the next season.

Removing half to one-third of the rose bush is recommended. This can be more depending on how much you want to trim. Most people prune their rose bushes down to 6 inches off the ground.

6. Trim cross branches

After trimming dead branches, look for crossed branches and cut them too. You may only find a few of these branches in your drift rose bush. Still, it’s important to clip them so your roses aren’t prone to disease and the stems don’t rub together and damage one another.

7. Trim damaged or diseased branches

Damaged and diseased branches and leaves should always be trimmed to keep your rose bush healthy. Pruning also encourages your roses to grow faster and to have more blooms. You should always trim at a 45-degree angle. Choose an eye on the outside of the cane and cut downwards on the opposite side.

Always trim from the base of your rose plant upwards.

8. Discard old stems

Once you’re trimmed your entire rose shrub, you can discard the stems. However, be cautious of trimmed stems; they may have some thorns that can poke you. Generally, they can go to your compost patch or be placed in heavy-duty refuse bags. The thorny stems are then unable to damage anything or hurt anyone.

9. Fertilize and water your rose bush

After pruning your drift roses, you can fertilize and water them. A balanced fertilizer or a fertilizer that is specially formulated for roses is best.

The soil should be moist before fertilizing to avoid burning the roots of your rose plant. Avoid fertilizing just before winter, as most roses go dormant and are unlikely to grow much during winter. Instead, plan to fertilize in early spring when most blooms start appearing.

10. Prune drift roses seasonally

With rose bushes, there are typically 3 types of pruning. These include spring pruning, deadheading, and summer pruning. Depending on your rose bush, it may be a good idea to incorporate all 3 types of pruning:

1. Spring Pruning – Spring pruning is done in the springtime to cut back dead leaves, stems, and frost-damaged parts of your drift roses.
2. Dead Heading – Deadheading removes rose buds that have already bloomed and are starting to wilt. These rose buds should be removed to make room for new growth.
3. Summer Pruning – Summer pruning involves cutting your drift roses lower than the first leaflet. This should only be done if your roses grow too quickly and you want to trim them down a bit.

Things to Look For

It’s important to know how to look for potential problems in your drift roses. They are low-maintenance roses and easy to care for, making them an ideal choice for busy gardeners. However, drift roses are not without their own set of problems. Here are some of the most common issues to look out for:

• Pest infestations: Drift roses are particularly susceptible to aphids and Japanese beetles. These pests can quickly decimate a drift rose bush if not controlled.
• Fungal diseases: Black spot and powdery mildew are two common fungal diseases that drift roses are prone to. Both of these diseases can cause the leaves of the plant to turn yellow or brown and eventually drop off.
• Poor drainage: Because drift roses prefer moist conditions, they can suffer if the soil drainage is poor. This can lead to root rot, which can kill the plant. Good drainage is a must. 

Despite these problems, drift roses are still a popular choice for many gardeners. With proper care and attention, these plants can provide years of beautiful blooms. In general, they have excellent disease resistance but any plant can experience the problems above so keeping an eye out for these issues is important. 

How to Prune Drift Roses FAQ

Here are some questions people often have about how to prune drift roses. 

Final Thoughts

Pruning drift roses should be done in the first 2 weeks of spring but can also be done in the summertime. When pruning drift roses, you cut back all the dead canes, leaves, and rose buds to encourage growth, more rose blooms, and healthier drift roses. As you can see, there is a process for how to do it that makes it easier and also improves the health of the plants. 

Drift roses are beautiful, carefree plants that can add a pop of color to any garden. By following these simple steps for how to prune drift roses, you’ll be able to keep them looking their best all season long.

What tips do you have for keeping your drift roses healthy and blooming? Share them in the comments below!

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