A Simple Summer Task to Keep Your Roses Blooming Beautifully
As we move into summer, one of the easiest ways to keep your roses looking their best and encourage them to keep flowering is to deadhead spent blooms. It’s a small, satisfying task, and if you do it regularly, your roses will reward you with healthier growth and plenty more blooms as the season stretches on.
Here’s exactly how I do it in my own garden.
Why Deadheading Matters
Once a rose bloom finishes, the plant naturally shifts its energy into producing seed. By removing those spent flowers, we gently redirect that energy back into fresh growth and new blooms. The result? Bushier plants, healthier stems, and a longer flowering season.
Step 1: Find the Spent Blooms
Look for blooms that are:
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Fading or browning
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Dropping petals
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Looking a little tired around the edges
You want to catch them just as they finish not while they’re still opening.
Step 2: Follow the Stem Down
Instead of cutting right at the flower head, follow the stem down until you reach:
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The first strong set of leaves
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Ideally a set of five leaflets (rather than three)
This is where the rose has the strength to push out another healthy stem.
The leaf joint will often have a small, new bud forming that’s your next flower.
Step 3: Make a Clean Cut
Using clean, sharp secateurs:
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Cut just above that five-leaflet junction
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Angle your cut slightly away from the bud
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Leave around 5–10mm of stem above the leaf
This keeps the plant tidy and reduces the risk of dieback.
Step 4: Remove the Entire Cluster (If Needed)
For cluster-flowering roses, not all blooms fade at the same time. When the majority of the cluster is finished:
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Snip the whole cluster off at the same point, just above a strong leaf set
This keeps the plant looking fresh and prevents straggly stems.
Step 5: Repeat Every Few Days
Roses respond quickly to deadheading, especially in warm weather. A quick check every few days makes a world of difference and keeps your plants blooming steadily right into autumn.
A Note on Hips
If your rose produces decorative hips (like rugosa or some species roses), or if you’d like to leave hips for birds later in the season, you can stop deadheading in late summer and allow the plant to set fruit. But through early–mid summer, deadheading is the best way to keep the flowers coming.
To watch a film of me doing this click on this link.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRiejWzEonF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==