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A sad leggy rose

hatty_hatty_ Posts: 99
in Problem solving
Hi everyone,

The front garden of my new house features a very leggy and quite poorly looking pink rose. My questions are:

- Anyone know what type/variety of rose this is? It smells lovely and is in  its second flush of blooming. The flower heads are very ‘heavy’ and consistently droop, as the stalks are pretty spindly and don’t seem
able to hold them up. 

- How might I encourage more ‘bushiness’. The previous owners obviously wanted to grow it around this wire framed “skirt” thing. But it’s not succeeded very well. 

- How should I feed it and care for it? I have removed all weeds and bark from around the base (as per previous advice from @Obelixx!) 

- Should I just dig it up and start again?!



Much rose-scented thanks! :-)

Posts

  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    It's shutting down for winter, so at this stage, no need to worry too much about encouraging bushiness. You can prune back by half of its height. Next year in early spring, just prune them further back to around 1 ft from the ground. The rose looks very young so, may still be settling in. Dig in a thick layer of well rotted manure around the base, and it should grow back.

    I suspect it could be an English rose due to the scent and repeat flowering right now. Could be totally wrong as so many to choose from, but it does look a bit like Royal Jubilee.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    That "skirt thing" is very strange,  l can't see the thinking behind that. Mind you, l have only had one cup of tea so far today  :). 
    Are you going to keep it ?
  • widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
    Hatty, where did you get that support from, it would be perfect for my standard rose, I have an upturned hanging basket at the moment.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I would wait for some serious rain to moisten the soil deep down or else give it a few large buckets of water over several days and then put a thick layer of well-rotted manure round the base but keep it off the main stems.  The worms will work it in over winter.   Cut back the longest stems by half to reduce damage from wind rock during the autumn gales.

    Next spring, prune out any dead, diseased or damaged stems to the base and then cut the rest of the stems back to an outward facing bud.  Add another layer of manure and watch it grow back strong and healthy.
    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)."
    Plato
  • Bright starBright star Posts: 1,153
    They create that “skirt” effect with canes  at Sissinghurst Garden I believe, they then bend the Rose stems down and tie to the frame. You get more blooms that way. If I had the space I would like to have a go. Similar to pegging roses.
    Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    hatty_ said:
    The previous owners obviously wanted to grow it around this wire framed “skirt” thing.
    You've got your answer @widgetwilk_ann someone online must be making them...or maybe ask any local metalworker to make one to the size of your rose? 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Bright star said:
    They create that “skirt” effect with canes  at Sissinghurst Garden I believe, they then bend the Rose stems down and tie to the frame. You get more blooms that way. If I had the space I would like to have a go. Similar to pegging roses.
    Thanks for that @Bright star, it makes sense now (plus l am on my second cup of tea of the day 😁)
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I'd use that skirt for some outdoor fairy lights and just peg the rose stems in the usual way once you get some healthy ones growing next year.
    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)."
    Plato
  • dappledshadedappledshade Posts: 1,017
    I know this is a very old post, but I’m curious to know what happened to that rose @hatty_ !

    Such a lovely colour.
    From my experience of rejuvenating inherited roses, cutting them hard back and treating them exactly as Obelixx has already said, should do the trick.

    They are tough as nails!

    I had an inherited rose in my current front garden trampled on by builders, then it had a skip placed on it for a week, it hadn’t been watered at all for about 3 years before we got to it (empty house). It was growing out from between bits of crazy paving too.

    I actually hadn’t even noticed it was there until the skip episode, as it was just a brown stick in the ground!

    It fought so hard to stay alive that I immediately stuck it in a pot and nurtured it for a year, before replanting it in the ground, in our newly modelled front garden, and here is what it looks like today.



    So in other words, I would always try to save a rose 😊 

    PS does anybody know what kind of rose it may be? I never did find out, as the elderly lady who sold us the house, died 2 years before we bought.
    I could be a Peter Beale rose though, as we found some paperwork lying around, but no name.
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