Do you have any photos, Dandy, of the rose???? The "rules" of pruning vary wildly, from one sort of rose to another.

Does it repeat bloom? Or is it a spring-bloomer.

Is it blooming now, or is it dormant-ish?

Where are you located?

Jeri

I am on the edge of Sacramento, just east of the fwy by Carmichael/Arden-Arcade.

It is a repeat bloomer and kept on going right through November (I was deadheading spent blooms so I wonder if that helped)

It is dormant-ish right now. Some leaves here and there.

Here are pictures from May of last year but it reached about twice this size:
{{gwi:222891}} {{gwi:222894}}

OK. You might check to see if there is a pruning demonstration in your area. I THINK the one at the Historic Cemetery was last week, but there may be others.

Check with one of your local ARS Rose Societies. They're GREAT!

First, when you said "Very Big" I was visualizing something 12-15-ft. tall . . . This is a normal nice Hybrid Tea Rose.

If you're ready to prune, FIRST get into the lower part of the plant, and see if there are old dead canes in there. If you see dead growth, remove that. (But first, make sure there isn't live growth coming from it somewhere higher-up.)

You can remove small, twiggy growth (smaller than the diameter of a pencil. You can shorten the tallest canes.

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MORE THAN ABOUT 1/3 OF THE PLANT!!!!

Look at where the leaves are attached to the cane.
At that point, you'll see a little fleshy bump. That is a growth eye, and it is from there that new growth will emerge. So, make your cuts at about 1/4-in above that eye, preferrably on an angle. The bud eye should be at the top. The highest point on the shortened cane.

Many people would tell you to remove some of the main canes, leaving only about three. But some roses just like to carry more canes than that. I would say, remove very old or un-healthy canes, and leave those that are healthy.

Below, I have given you a good blog post on Pruning, from Jill Perry, of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden

Here is a link that might be useful: [Rose] Pruning For The Totally Timid

Thank you Jeri!

One question though about cutting only 1/3 of the plant. I'm afraid that if I only cut that much that it will get much too tall. It was past my roof by the end of the growing season. And this rose does get BIG. As I mentioned before, that picture was in May and it was about 6' there. It got twice that big - lets say around 11 ft to be safe. I guess the window in the back throws off perspective.

Also, when my father in law cut it down last year, he cut it about 3 ft high and obviously it did well. But should I refrain from doing that every year?

We like them big here. Big and healthy. You can cut it lower but it's not going to be as long lived or have as many flowers if you do. Hybrid teas like this can only be cut down low so many times before they don't grow well anymore and start declining. If the plant has only been there a few years then maybe you could move it and replant with something that doesn't get so tall but probably you like that rose and it's happy there. Most people want to see them shorter but having been here a while and tried it with mine I can promise you that you will have so many more flowers and your rose will be healthier if you follow what Jeri said. Your rose does look very happy. Now can we interest you in some organic mulch to make it even happier?

Thanks Kitty :)

I'm still wary about cutting only 1/3... If the bush is 11-12 feet tall at its highest point, should I really cut it down to only 8 ft? I was thinking even cutting it down by 1/2 was too little. OR is it that I should only cut the main canes which were pruned last year by 1/3? Thus cutting below last year's cut? Please clarify :)

I have since mulched with compost, hoping it will improve soil over time. Is that an okay mulch for roses? I have also been considering using grass clippings from time to time and leaf mold when its available. Let me know your thoughts :)

Your plant just wants to be taller naturally. If it were me, I would move it where it could get tall and plant another rose that was naturally shorter for that spot but moving a big plant isn't without any risk and sometimes you lose a plant that way. This one looks so nice and you like it. The only thing is that it's so healthy that it's getting tall which it naturally wants to do. Some roses just are tall roses. This is just a tight spot for this tall rose. There are people who will say just trim it down low and don't worry it will bounce right back afterward. I just want to tell you that it only works so many times before the roses start getting weakened by it and eventually it isn't the strong plant that you have right now.

This is the trade off, to cut it low and have it be under stress or let it retain most of it's stored up food and energy that it worked so hard to make. I used to cut mine low every year and I liked the flowers I got. Now I don't cut more than a third off the total height and I get so many more flowers and the bushes grow better and make new flowers faster because they're healthier. Some people will say it makes no difference. I think my own plants have shown me that it does. You have to decide how you feel about it. Some people are hard pruners and some people are not but the roses prefer to keep most of their productive canes. If you can cheat by fanning it out on a trellis, I would try that. Then you would get even more roses!

Compost is fine for roses. Everybody has a favorite mulch. If you keep mulching with organics, the soil gets better and better every year.

I thought of something else-

Is all parts of this rose in the sun? If only the lower part is maybe the top part is stretching for sun. How much sun does it get in a day?

Great point, Kitty -- I suspect this rose IS looking for sunlight.

Unless, of course, it is actually a Climbing rose. But Kitty's right. You can only whack it way back so many times before it just gives up the ghost.

There are many smaller roses, which would be more suitable for your space -- and it might be best overall to move this big fella, and look for something short for this location.

As to the mulch -- As Kitty says, compost is great. Leaves may be OK, depending upon what sort of plant they come from. Grass clippings, though, should be composted, else you will be growing grass there, in no time.

Jeri

Jeri

The blooms are magnificant! Are they fragrant?! It sounds like you very well may have a climber. If it were mine, I'd sure try to move it somewhere where it could do what makes it happy, and put in another in it's place that had a size more appropriate for its placement.