How exactly do you dead head a rose bush?

I have just moved into this house and I have 2 rosebushes, actually more like trees ;) Some of the roses are brown and dead, do I just pluck off the dead ones? That would be so difficult because there are like 100's of them, and of course quite prickly. Should I cut them back? If yes, where do I cut them? I think they are Tea Roses, they are small and many growing on each vine, white and red bushes. They are just beautiful but now looking like they need some TLC. Help????
How exactly do you dead head a rose bush?
Well, you have two options, dead head them or leave them. There isn't an easy way to do it for all those little flowers. General rule of thumb is to cut down to the first cluster of five leaves from the bud (usually there will be two or three groups of three or four first.) When you cut, cut at a slant away from the leaves as roses are very prone to rot and disease. As far as thinning goes, most people don't thin them but mostly just trim the dead branches off. DONT do this before they start to bud in the spring, wait until they start to leaf out so you will know what is dead and what isn't because a lot of times branches may look dead but aren't. As far as where, same rule for the slant away from the other branches and such. Just cut down to where it starts turning green. Miracle grow also makes some Rose food. That once a month applied at the roots is good.
Reply:If the roses are "out of control" cut the bushes back to half size. Many people say to prune, "below a three leaf and above a five leaf," but tea-roses are so hearty, you simply cannot kill them. If you decide to leave the blossoms, you will have lovely and delicious "rose-hips," which can be harvested in the fall when they turn red. Deadheading is just like it sounds--pinch off the spent blossoms, time consuming, but you will have many more flowers to come.
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