By the way, when cutting back your roses, there’s not too much you can do wrong – even if many books with complicated instructions give a different impression. You can confidently toss all inhibitions overboard and venture the cutting encouraged. 

It is especially important that the rose is cut strongly so that the plant can come back with vigorous growth – except if the rose is too old or has too poor nutrition. When cutting too cautiously, the wood in the lower area gets old and thick while the rose gets more susceptible to disease and breakage. It is also important for the cut to use very sharp secateurs to avoid damaging the plant and to obtain smooth cut surfaces.

You should always cut the rose stem above an outwardly facing eye. Eyes describe the sprouting points of the branches. The cut should always be diagonal, not straight. Shoots that grow into the interior of the rose and those which cross each other should be cut off completely. Dead wood is removed at the base, in a way that you cut a bit in the adjacent healthy wood. This is important because germs like to settle in the dead wood. Also, the dead wood robs space for new shoots, so get rid of it. You can recognize it by its dryly brown colour. Wild shoots which sprout below the bud union should also be removed.