Question
QUESTION: I live in Zanesville, OH. I recently bought tree roses and I was wondering about the branches, particularly the thicker ones that are dead at the top part of it and alive below that. I trimmed it down to the live part because I want it to grow. Is that what I am suppose to do or is there something else?

ANSWER: Just view a tree rose as a bush rose sitting on top of a pole and prune it the same as you would one in the ground. In the spring prune the top back to about 8 inches and that will make a nice shaped tree for you.

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QUESTION: What about the one branches that are dead at the top and then alive? If I cut those back to the live part, will they grow. Why does part of the branches die?

Answer
I am a little confused when you describe the canes as being dead at the top but alive at the bottom. Perhaps if I tell you how a rose tree is made you could give me another description of the rose problem. When they make a rose tree they grow a wild Rugosa rose into a tall stem.  Then they bud a modern rose onto the top in three places. So you actually have three rose bushes on top of the tall stem. As you can see, each one can re-act differently in that one could actually die when the other two could do well. Rose canes dieback from the tips so you can cut off the dead part and still have a healthy cane. However if they dieback to the base or top of the tall cane, then they are dead and nothing can be done. Rose trees dieback because they are up in the air and get the cold much quicker than if they were sitting on top of the soil. Rose trees do need a lot more water than a bush rose so make sure you water daily if the weather gets hot or every three days for a normal summer.