"John W" wrote in message
...
I have what I think is a rambler rose bush. It has a massive bloom
late
spring to early summer. Now they (flowers) are all dead and I have a
massive
bush. Can I prune this way back so I can see the fence again?. Is
now the
time to do this. Any help appreciated

THANKS

jOHN

I generally prune ramblers and climbers to
make it comfortable for me to walk around
them. That isn't scientific, but so far
has worked. I'm not sure I'd prune yours
back a lot - but you can probably do a
fair amount of trimming with no harm.

What you might want to do is cut out
some of the older canes, usually the
bigger ones, all the way back to the
ground. That can help rejuvenate the
rose. Then shorten the remaining canes
for appearance/convenience getting
around.

When it doubt, do a little bit now, see
how the shrub responds, then do more
later.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8 USA