I usually prune mine lightly after they have flowered then hard in early March time. But I am always pruning of stray branches and untidy growth through the year as my roses are pretty big. :)

Thanks Sharni07 could you please tell me how far down from dead bud you cut thanx

As far as you wish it wont harm the rose... Just use your eye, make it tidy. I cut back lots of green stems within weeks the start shooting out new ones. I cut back my 7ft rose by my kitchen really hard after it flowered in May as it was all out of shape as I had been ill and not given it it's usual prune in March, i just had 2 long main stems about 5ft tall I cut everything off by June I had 17 new branches they start red then go green and within weeks the whole rose was smothered in buds and is now bushy still flowering and looking great. You can't harm your rose so just prune it the way you want it to grow and don't be afraid to cut to much after the flowering has finished. :)

Oh if you are talking about dead heading, I usually cut about 1 to 2 inchs from the bud. :)