NEWPORT NEWS, VA. ? Bob Little takes a week’s vacation in early March to tend to some serious needs at his home in Hampton, Va.

He dons a carpenter-style apron and kneepads and arms himself with the tools of his hobby: bypass hand pruners, small pruning saw, wire brush, clear-drying white glue and loppers.

Scooting across soppy soil, he prunes each of his 130 roses.

“I wait until the first of March to prune because once you start pruning, they tend to start growing,” he says.

“This way, they’ll be in bloom by May 17 for the rose show.”

For now, climbers are left alone. He’ll prune them after they bloom.

Little is president of the Virginia Peninsula Rose Society and a consulting rosarian with the American Rose Society. He has been raising roses for more than 25 years. He collects all styles of roses — climbers, hybrid teas, miniatures and the grandiflora and floribunda types that produce large clusters of flowers.

The Gemini hybrid tea is his favorite because the name represents the astrology sign for May, his birth month. The plant — one of the 2000 All-America Roses Selections — produces 4-inch flowers in blended shades of coral pink and rich cream.

If you want great roses of any color or name, you’ve got to prune them, according to rose experts.

“A lot of people think you can over prune, but that’s not true,” Little says.

“The bush feels like you are threatening its life, so it’s going to send out shoots to survive. Proper pruning creates bigger plants, more flowers per plant and extends the productive life of the plant.”

Before you ever start pruning, equip yourself with the right supplies so you avoid running back and forth to the tool shed. Little suggests sharp bypass shears, thorn-resistant gloves, small 3-inch pruning saw or loppers for large canes, wire brush and a bleach solution.

“If you had disease problems, sterilize your pruners after pruning each rose by dipping the cutting blades into a solution of liquid chlorine bleach,” he says. Otherwise, you risk spreading disease from plant to plant.

Make clean, precise cuts, always pruning at a 45-degree angle away from buds, Little says.

“There are a lot of tricks we old rose growers know,” Little says while using the wire brush on the base of a plant.

Seal fresh cuts with clear-drying white glue to prevent harmful insects from getting into the plant. Small carpenter bees like to bore into rose canes and lay eggs in the pith (the soft sponge-like tissue in the center of young stems and stalks). The eggs hatch into larvae that eat through the canes, causing them to wilt and die. When you cut a cane and see a dark, hollow-like spot in the center, keep pruning until you find healthy tissue.