How and When to Deadhead Roses At the Bud Eye

The exact spot to cut back your roses is above a leaf set

Closeup of deadheading a cluster of dead roses

The Spruce

Project Overview
  • Working Time: 15 mins - 1 hr
  • Total Time: 15 mins - 1 hr
  • Skill Level: Intermediate
  • Estimated Cost: $0

Knowing how to deadhead roses is a crucial part of routine care for this plant—and not only for aesthetic reasons. Removing the spent and withered flowers encourages repeat-flowering roses to bloom again. Almost all modern roses (which includes any roses bred since 1867) are repeat-flowering or repeat-blooming so it's most likely that the roses in your yard should be deadheaded as needed. 

What Is Deadheading?

Deadheading a flowering plant means you are removing its spent blooms to promote new growth or to tidy up the shape. Deadheading is done at two stages: first the removal of any spent blooms on a flowering head, and second the removal of the entire spent flowering head.

Is Deadheading Different for Different Types of Roses?

The time it takes to deadhead a rose plant varies greatly. While a 4-foot hybrid tea rose or a compact Knock Out rose bush can be deadheaded in under 15 minutes, a tall climbing rose, or a large rose bush can take an hour or more. The number of spent flowers or flowering heads to remove also factors into the time requirement.

Why Deadhead Roses

Appearance is one reason for deadheading roses but there is more to it from the botanical perspective. If you don’t remove the spent flowers, two things may happen. If the flower was pollinated, the plant will produce a rose hip below the flower that is packed with seeds, signaling to the plant that it has done its job by blooming once and producing offspring. This prevents the formation of new buds in the same growing season. In many modern roses the petals are so large that insects cannot get to the pollen inside the flower and pollinate it but to ensure a repeated bloom it is still recommended to remove the spent flowers.

If the flower has not been pollinated, it will just dry and fall off.

When to Deadhead Roses

You can remove the flowers as soon as they are wilted or withered. The longer you wait, the looser the petals become and fall off with the slightest motion. Deadheading differs from pruning roses, which is season-specific—usually late winter and early spring. Deadheading occurs throughout the growing season.

Continue your deadheading routine after each flush of flowers and throughout the entire summer but stop deadheading a few weeks before the first frost date. Deadheading produces more new growth that is vulnerable to cold weather.

Tip

If you have roses that produce rose hips that you would like to harvest, do not deadhead the spent flowers.

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • Sharp, clean pair of hand shears or secateurs
  • Long gardening gloves
  • Bucket

Instructions

Overhead view of materials needed for deadheading roses

The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Removing Faded Flowers

  1. Cut Spent Flowers at the Base

    • Cut an individual spent flower from a flowering head or flower cluster at the base, where the flower joins the stem. Collect clippings in the bucket.
    • Leave any remaining buds or flowers that still look fresh and appealing untouched.
    Deadheading roses at the base

    The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Deadheading Established Roses

  1. Identify the Cut Location

    After all the flowers in a flowering head are done blooming, it is time to remove the entire flowering head. Take the following steps:

    • Determine where to make the cut. Most hybrid tea roses usually have one or two 3-leaflet leaves immediately below the flower and lower on the stem two or more 5-leaflet leaves.
    • Identify a 5-leaf set that is facing outwards, which is the direction in which you want the new shoot to grow.
    • When you’ve found a 5-leaf set, also look for a small dark spot where the leaf set and the shoot join. This is a bud eye from which a new stem will grow into a flower.
    • The location where you make the cut should be just above that bud eye. As the bud eye is usually located very close to the leaf set you are after, it should not be too difficult to find.
    • Cut about ¼ inch above the 5-leaflet set and in a way so that at least two 5-leaflet leaves remain on each shoot.
    Marking the cut on the rose stem

    The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

  2. Make the Cut

    Cut the stem at a 45-degree angle and not straight. The angle helps the water from precipitation or watering to run off quickly and dry and prevents bacteria or fungi to grow on moist exposed plant tissue.

    Making the cut above the 5 leaflet on the diagonal

    The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Deadheading Newly Planted Roses

  1. Identify the Cut Location

    With one exception, the method of deadheading newly planted roses is the same as for established roses. Instead of removing the spent flowering head above the uppermost 5-leaflet leaf on a stem, identify the uppermost 3-leaflet leaf for the location of the cut. Removing more foliage from a young rose is detrimental to its ability to produce food and grow.

    Closeup of a rose with a 3-leaflet

    The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

  2. Make the Cut

    Cut the stem ¼ inch above the first 3-leaflet leaf at a 45-degree angle, as described in Step 2 for established roses above.

    Cutting just above the 3-leaflet on the rose stem

    The Spruce / Meg MacDonald

Additional Tips

When deadheading, leave the foliage of the rose plant untouched, unless it is diseased. Leaves are essential for photosynthesis, which means more flowers, healthier rose canes, and a stronger plant overall. However, as deadheading your roses makes you take a very close look at the plant, it lets you identify any problems with the rose—such as pests and diseases or leaf discoloration due to nutrient deficiency—early so you can take prompt action.

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. What Is the Proper Way to Deadhead Roses? Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.