Just thought I'd mention but I have plenty of garden front and back.
The formal rose beds (three of them at the front) are there with plenty of other areas for shrubs and perennials plus a decent size lawn.They don't dominate the front but are most definitely a focal point and were obviously put in for show.
Mother has been on the phone and is mortified that there has been the consideration they may come up.
I feel that the roses are just one aspect to a well balanced garden with a wide variety of shrubs etc throughout the plot. As far as I can understand, the previous owners paid quite a bit of money for the site to be landscaped and planted up by a professional. Despite my amateur background, I can recognise the work of someone who knows what they are doing with both the layout and the appropriate mixed choice of shrubs and perennials.
I know this is someone else's garden but the roses do not dominate which I suspect some readers may think given the number of bushes. However it is all relative and I am gradually making changes here and there to personalise the home.
Before coming here roses were never a consideration (generational thing possibly) but since moving here I have learned so much with rose gardening and have enjoyed many aspects to it too despite the work they require. Twelve months ago I would have removed them without a doubt but have since then have learned to appreciate them too.
For the record, if there was a change I think Pontentilla and choisya would be pretty much at the top of the list.
As you have so many maybe it's worth removing the worst affected roses, adding plenty of well rotted compost and manure to the soil and planting other things you like better in the autumn when they'll get a head start in warm soil and with plenty of rain. I suggest you see how they go between now and autumn which will give you time to think about any replacements as it may just be a bad year for black spot or else those rose sare particularly susceptible and not worth keeping.
I don't think age matters. There are some beautiful long established roses around and it sounds like you've given them the pruning and feeding they need to rejuvenate them. If they don't respond well, time for the chop.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
It's your garden now. Bear that in mind. Not your mother's and not the previous owner's.
If you can't be bothered with the hassle of them, then get rid.
There are loads of things you can grow which you can enjoy looking after. If you need to spend a lot of time on a plant, make sure it's one you like and want. Alternatively, if you don't have lots of time, but want a nice space to enjoy, there are plenty of shrubs and plants which will have minimal effort to keep them looking good.
I understand why people like roses, although I don't grow any, but they have to suit your lifestyle. There are plenty of varieties (as others have mentioned) which will be easier to look after than the awkward ones you have.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Far from it. I take the view that 'the more effort you put in the more you get out of it'. That to me has rung pretty true over the years with the garden and to most things. I think on this occasion though that theory may have been blown out of the water! Still despite that, looking it from a glass half full perspective, what would it have been like without the effort? Who knows.
Still plenty of the season left and plenty more roses are on their way. Hopefully something a bit more positive around the corner until the frosts.
If Mother likes them so much , get her to stay up half the night searching for BS !
Personally I'd find a spot for a large bonfire , get rid (of the roses , not Mother ) and plant a mixed shrubbery full of interesting , unusual and beautiful plants to provide year round interest .
BS is annoying but not the end of the world. I just put up with the July hit on mine. Certainly when putting in new ones, I now look for disease resistance. Queen of Sweden hasn't got any BS and full of leaves, some of my other roses though haven't got any leaves and full of BS
I am familiar with black spot despair. A nurseryman told me to spray the roses and the ground around them with a product called something like Sulpha Rose. It does not harm wildlife, so far as I know, but black spot doesn't like it at all. He used it just once in Spring but I found that it was well to use it a couple of times through the growing season. It was amazing. Keep the bushes well watered in dry spells, too.
The clean air acts don't help your black spot. In the days of domestic chimneys pouring out sulphorous smoke, black spot on roses was not such a problem. The sulphorous smoke kept them mush clearer. It ruined your lungs though.
Posts
Just thought I'd mention but I have plenty of garden front and back.
The formal rose beds (three of them at the front) are there with plenty of other areas for shrubs and perennials plus a decent size lawn.They don't dominate the front but are most definitely a focal point and were obviously put in for show.
Mother has been on the phone and is mortified that there has been the consideration they may come up.
I feel that the roses are just one aspect to a well balanced garden with a wide variety of shrubs etc throughout the plot. As far as I can understand, the previous owners paid quite a bit of money for the site to be landscaped and planted up by a professional. Despite my amateur background, I can recognise the work of someone who knows what they are doing with both the layout and the appropriate mixed choice of shrubs and perennials.
I know this is someone else's garden but the roses do not dominate which I suspect some readers may think given the number of bushes. However it is all relative and I am gradually making changes here and there to personalise the home.
Before coming here roses were never a consideration (generational thing possibly) but since moving here I have learned so much with rose gardening and have enjoyed many aspects to it too despite the work they require. Twelve months ago I would have removed them without a doubt but have since then have learned to appreciate them too.
For the record, if there was a change I think Pontentilla and choisya would be pretty much at the top of the list.
As you have so many maybe it's worth removing the worst affected roses, adding plenty of well rotted compost and manure to the soil and planting other things you like better in the autumn when they'll get a head start in warm soil and with plenty of rain. I suggest you see how they go between now and autumn which will give you time to think about any replacements as it may just be a bad year for black spot or else those rose sare particularly susceptible and not worth keeping.
I don't think age matters. There are some beautiful long established roses around and it sounds like you've given them the pruning and feeding they need to rejuvenate them. If they don't respond well, time for the chop.
It's your garden now. Bear that in mind. Not your mother's and not the previous owner's.
If you can't be bothered with the hassle of them, then get rid.
There are loads of things you can grow which you can enjoy looking after. If you need to spend a lot of time on a plant, make sure it's one you like and want. Alternatively, if you don't have lots of time, but want a nice space to enjoy, there are plenty of shrubs and plants which will have minimal effort to keep them looking good.
I understand why people like roses, although I don't grow any, but they have to suit your lifestyle. There are plenty of varieties (as others have mentioned) which will be easier to look after than the awkward ones you have.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Interesting name HoS
Far from it. I take the view that 'the more effort you put in the more you get out of it'. That to me has rung pretty true over the years with the garden and to most things. I think on this occasion though that theory may have been blown out of the water! Still despite that, looking it from a glass half full perspective, what would it have been like without the effort? Who knows.
Still plenty of the season left and plenty more roses are on their way. Hopefully something a bit more positive around the corner until the frosts.
Back off home now for yet another BS patrol....
And B3, its a long story
as is the avatar
I agree re the effort but not the chemicals
In the sticks near Peterborough
If Mother likes them so much , get her to stay up half the night searching for BS !
Personally I'd find a spot for a large bonfire , get rid (of the roses , not Mother
) and plant a mixed shrubbery full of interesting , unusual and beautiful plants to provide year round interest .
BS is annoying but not the end of the world. I just put up with the July hit on mine. Certainly when putting in new ones, I now look for disease resistance. Queen of Sweden hasn't got any BS and full of leaves, some of my other roses though haven't got any leaves and full of BS
I am familiar with black spot despair. A nurseryman told me to spray the roses and the ground around them with a product called something like Sulpha Rose. It does not harm wildlife, so far as I know, but black spot doesn't like it at all. He used it just once in Spring but I found that it was well to use it a couple of times through the growing season. It was amazing. Keep the bushes well watered in dry spells, too.
The clean air acts don't help your black spot. In the days of domestic chimneys pouring out sulphorous smoke, black spot on roses was not such a problem. The sulphorous smoke kept them mush clearer. It ruined your lungs though.
Husbandofstinky
There is also something called rose sickness or replanting diseases when the plants have been growing in the ground for years.
Could your inherited plants just be getting too old ?
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=572
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