How to Deadhead Roses

GardeningEasy7:234 steps

By ShowMeStepByStepPublished April 28, 2026Updated May 9, 2026

Based on a video by Garden Answer.

If you don't deadhead your roses, the plant pours its energy into making seed pods (rose hips) instead of new flowers. Deadheading - cutting off the spent blooms in the right spot - tells the plant to keep producing flowers all season.

Garden Answer's Laura walks through the technique that works for almost every rose variety: floribundas, hybrid teas, grandifloras, David Austins. Find the right leaf cluster, make sure it points outward, and cut at a 45-degree angle. The rose responds with another flush of blooms in 2-3 weeks.

You'll need a clean pair of bypass pruners and 5 minutes per bush. That's it.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Trace down to the first 5-leaf cluster

1:50

Find a spent bloom on your rose - one that's already opened, faded, and is starting to drop petals or look ragged. Hold the stem just below the bloom and follow it down until you hit the first cluster of leaves with FIVE leaflets on it.

This is the magic spot. Most roses produce a new bud right above the cut, so you're picking exactly where the next flower will grow.

Tip

Don't cut at a cluster of 3 leaves - that produces what's called blind wood, a stem that won't flower at all. Always 5.

Products used in this step

Bypass PrunersView product

Step 2: Verify it's a true 5-leaf cluster

2:30

Spread the leaves apart and count. You're looking for a cluster of 5 leaflets growing from a single point on the stem. The cluster nearest the bloom is sometimes a 3-leaf or even single - skip those and keep going down.

Once you find the first 5-leaf cluster, you've got the spot for the cut. Don't go further down than necessary or you'll lose stem the rose could use to flower.

Step 3: Pick a cluster that points outward

3:30

Look at which way the cluster is angling away from the stem. New growth will follow the leaf direction.

You want the next bud growing OUTWARD, away from the center of the bush. If the leaf cluster you found points back toward the middle, skip it and go to the next one. An open center means better airflow, fewer fungal problems, and a tidier shape.

Step 4: Cut at a 45-degree angle, 1/4 inch above the joint

6:35

Position your pruners about a quarter inch above the 5-leaf cluster. Tilt the blade so the cut slopes away from the leaf at about a 45-degree angle.

Squeeze in one clean snip. The angled cut sheds water (a flat cut pools moisture and rots), and the quarter-inch buffer protects the new bud from the cut edge. Toss the spent bloom into the compost and move to the next one. The rose will produce a fresh flush in 2-3 weeks.

Tip

Wipe pruner blades with rubbing alcohol between bushes if any of your roses have disease symptoms. Stops the spread cold.

Products used in this step

Bypass PrunersView product

Garden GlovesView product

Products Used

Bypass PrunersView Garden GlovesView

Your Guide

Garden Answer

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