Prune the Meidiland rose during the late winter after all of the foliage has fallen from the plant but before the spring temperatures begin to rise and new growth forms. Prune your plant in January if you live in a warmer region. In warmer regions where it does not get cold enough for roses to shed their leaves, pruning should be done in January and all of the leaves and flowers should be pruned off. This will allow the shrub to have a brief rest before producing new foliage and flowers in late winter or spring. Use bypass or hand pruners that are sharp. Dull pruners will crush the stems and damage the growth buds. Always wash your pruning shears before and after you prune plants to control the spread of any plant diseases that may be in your garden. Remove all dead growth and debris from around the plant to make the pruning process a bit easier. Rake the area around the plant and remove any trash, leaves or other items. Place this debris in a composter, or in a bag in the trash if you are concerned that the debris might have a plant disease or fungus of some kind. Remove any black or dark brown stems because these colors indicate that this growth has died. Dead growth should be cut back in order to help the plant produce healthy, new growth. If no healthy buds remain on a particular stalk, cut the stalk to the ground to encourage the plant to produce new stalks. When cutting make vertical, angled cuts directly above the first healthy bud. Diseased parts of the plant should be removed as soon as you spot the disease. Check your roses through their growing season to make sure that your plants have not developed any diseases. Trim these branches off entirely or back to where the  center of the stem tissue is a healthy white. Remove diseased parts of the plant from your yard. These cuttings will have to be burned or thrown away. You cannot place these cuttings in the compost bin, as the plant disease could still spread from within the compost bin. Once you have removed any dead, damaged, or diseased growth, cut your plant back to height that you would like it to be. The height of white Meidiland roses can be reduced by four to eight inches, if a shorter height is preferred, but it is not necessary. Simply trim each branch back to the desired height. Prune off any branches that are growing at odd angles and branches that are growing across other branches. If a branch is growing across another branch, it could rub against the other branch, causing injury and opening up the shrub to disease. White Meidilands that are more than a few years old should have up to one-third of the oldest, thickest, woodiest branches removed completely. This will open up the center of the shrub to better air circulation and sunlight exposure. It will also keep the shrub “younger” since the leftover branches will be less than a few years old.

Summary:
Know when to prune your rose. Use the proper tools for pruning. Remove any debris that has collected around your plant. Cut off dead growth. Cut away any diseased parts of the plant. Prune your rose to your desired height. Prune off branches that are causing problems. Remove most old growth.