How Cutting Back Fosters Healthy Growth, in Roses and in Life
In the world of gardening, there’s a simple truth we all come to understand: pruning is essential for healthy growth. And when it comes to roses, I’ve learned that extreme pruning —counterintuitive though it at first seems—is the way to go. It wasn’t always easy for me to do and, if I’m being honest, I still have to remind myself during every pruning session that I’m actually helping the rose grow stronger as I snip away. (And yep, I tell this to the roses as well!) The truth is, these elegant blooms are more resilient than they seem—much stronger than most people think.
Pruning for healthy growth in roses
Now, if you don’t prune a rose at all, it will still grow—vigorously, in fact. But we’re not just talking about any growth here. We’re talking about vibrant, purposeful growth. And that’s where pruning works its magic.
Pruning allows the plant to focus its energy where it matters most. Leading into winter, it’s about strengthening the roots; in the growing season, it’s about nurturing the strongest, most thriving limbs (or “canes”). But here’s the thing about extreme pruning: it isn’t just about cutting away dead or diseased limbs, or even just the weaker, less productive ones.
Extreme pruning means cutting away otherwise healthy growth to funnel energy intentionally into a select handful of canes.
How to prune roses, extreme-style
When I prune a rose, I remove three kinds of limbs:
- Dead, damaged, or diseased canes;
- Canes that are growing toward the center or crossing each other, which limits air flow;
- Otherwise healthy canes that just aren’t as strong or robust as I need them to be to support sustainable, long-term growth—even if they’re otherwise blooming beautifully.
In some cases, that might mean removing up to two-thirds of the plant. Yes, it can be hard to part with those lovely blooms, but it’s all for the plant’s long-term healthy and vigor. Sometimes, such as when canes start to cross over each other, even the healthiest branches need to be cut away so the entire plant can flourish.
I won’t lie—this lesson was a TOUGH one for me as a gardener. It felt wrong to cut off a perfectly healthy branch. What if it just needed more time to grow? It was producing such beautiful flowers! But over the years, I’ve learned to be bolder in my pruning. It’s still a practice that requires a little reassurance (to the plant and myself!) that this is the path to greater beauty. But these days, I prune with confidence, and it feels pretty dang good to see the rose plant start to breathe as I peel back the layers.
You see where I’m going with this, right? This isn’t just about roses.
Extreme Pruning in Life: the power of creating space
The biggest lesson I’ve learned through pruning is this: if you want to encourage true growth, you need to have a vision for where you want to go—and then prune intentionally and hard to nurture that growth. It means making some tough choices and letting go of what no longer serves your purpose—even if it looks healthy and promising.
And here’s the truth: this concept of pruning doesn’t just apply to plants. It applies to life.
Saying no to focus on what’s important now
In our fast-paced, always-on world, we often find ourselves juggling so many things—our careers, our relationships, our hobbies, our endless to-do lists. I’m the first to admit that I chronically overestimate what I’m capable of doing in a fixed amount of time. The hard part is, it’s all GOOD stuff, IMPORTANT stuff, and it’s sometimes outright painful trying to think of what I could possibly cut out. But when we’re trying to keep everything alive and thriving, often without taking a moment to step back and assess what’s important right now, it’s easy to get caught up in the illusion that doing it all is the key to growth. Just like those rose canes, sometimes we need to let go of what seems good in order to make room for what will bring us lasting beauty.
Extreme pruning in life is about learning the power of saying no. It’s about deciding not to do everything all the time. It’s about honoring the season you’re in and focusing on what really needs your attention, energy, and love in this season. It means making choices that support your vision for your life—not what others expect of you or what society tells you you should be doing. If it’s important, and if it’s for you, it will come back around. It’s about trusting in Nature’s rhythms, in Life’s rhythms.
Embracing intentional growth in all seasons of life
Maybe you’re in a season of career growth, and that means cutting back on social commitments or simplifying your daily routine. Maybe you’re raising a family, and that means letting go of certain activities to focus on nurturing your children’s growth. Or maybe, like me, you’re feeling the weight of constant busyness, and it feels like there is no dead weight, nothing that can be cut without consequences. That’s when the seeming paradox of extreme pruning is most relevant and important.
When it seems like nothing can give, that’s when we MOST need to pull back and center ourselves, to find clarity in the stillness and the space. Like the roses…to make room to breathe.
It’s not easy, and it requires boldness and faith. But when we learn to prune with intention—when we say no to the unnecessary and yes to what truly matters—we create space for the most vibrant, meaningful growth in our lives.
And isn’t that kind of the whole point?
