@owd potter I’ve brought back a couple of bags of soil improver so will use that as a mulch all over this year. Will do it after feeding, which I’ll do when they’ve started leafing out more. Mine are still just in baby bud stage.
@Mr. Vine Eye yep, mine too. I have embarked on a general soil improvement programme, and am working copious quantities of leaf mould, garden compost and bagged manure into the garden, bed by bed. My roses, new and existing, will just get rolled up into this, but I do want to do the right thing by them
Many thanks @Marlorena, considering the number of roses that you have, you would need composting facilities of industrial scale or a herd of cows to produce enough mulch to serve them all I suspect...
I'm half hoping there aren't any nice new roses so I don't have to rethink the roses I've already chosen for pots and a few available garden spaces. But on the other hand I've never bought a new DA before and it would be fun as a project.
I like that Lady Waterlow over the page too, wish I had more space for climbers. I recently bought Crown Princess Margareta for my last space as I thought the colour would be fun between my existing roses which are also not noticeably scented.
Weather isn't looking terrible this weekend so I'll get out and do some pruning and tidying. I haven't cut down the perennials yet, will start it gradually depending where the bulbs are covered up.
Can anyone recommend good youtube videos on how to prune floribundas, HT and bourbon roses? I'm planning to prune them over the next couple of days but am scared that I'll do it wrong!
I'm so looking forward to getting out into the garden and getting it ready for the spring!
Don’t know about videos, but Floribundas and HT’s are dead easy, there is little you can do wrong as they are generally vigorous and flower on new wood. Usual advice is cut back floribundas to 12” and HTs to 6”, tho I tend ro be less radical with my floribundas, rightly or wrongly. Additionally, prune out any dead, diseased or crossing canes to the ground and likewise thin out some older canes if overcrowded in the centre to open it up a bit and improve air circulation.
Bourbons are a different matter and opinions seem to vary. Some say leave well alone apart from removing the dead/diseased/crossing bits, at least until established. Others say it’s fine to treat them like a normal shrub rose, cutting back by around a third and shortening the lateral growth to three ‘eyes’ to encourage new growth and more blooms. Be interested in hearing what others do as I have a few new bourbons this year. I guess it also depends on whether they are climbing or not..
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I always put a manure mulch on my roses in the ground, but is there any point or need to put a manure mulch on my potted roses...the compost is about a 60/40 split JI No3 and MP, will it make it too rich. The compost in the pots range from a few weeks old to about 2 years old.
The way I see it with bourbons is they don’t need pruning, but as many form very large shrubs, it is often necessary to cut them back to fit a space. You would never want to cut one back hard though, maximum of one third, aside from removing anything unproductive/damaged. If grown on an arch or obelisk, you’d want to tidy up the laterals as you would do normally.
If anyone has other experiences I’d be happy to hear.
With regards to fertilising, I’m trying some new things this year - DA rose feed (usually use Top Rose) + Uncle Tom’s (as a fortnightly foliar feed). Uncle Tom’s could be substituted with half strength Tomorite.
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yep, mine too.
I have embarked on a general soil improvement programme, and am working copious quantities of leaf mould, garden compost and bagged manure into the garden, bed by bed.
My roses, new and existing, will just get rolled up into this, but I do want to do the right thing by them
considering the number of roses that you have, you would need composting facilities of industrial scale or a herd of cows to produce enough mulch to serve them all I suspect...
I like that Lady Waterlow over the page too, wish I had more space for climbers. I recently bought Crown Princess Margareta for my last space as I thought the colour would be fun between my existing roses which are also not noticeably scented.
Weather isn't looking terrible this weekend so I'll get out and do some pruning and tidying. I haven't cut down the perennials yet, will start it gradually depending where the bulbs are covered up.
Is it Spring yet?
I'm so looking forward to getting out into the garden and getting it ready for the spring!
Don’t know about videos, but Floribundas and HT’s are dead easy, there is little you can do wrong as they are generally vigorous and flower on new wood. Usual advice is cut back floribundas to 12” and HTs to 6”, tho I tend ro be less radical with my floribundas, rightly or wrongly. Additionally, prune out any dead, diseased or crossing canes to the ground and likewise thin out some older canes if overcrowded in the centre to open it up a bit and improve air circulation.
Bourbons are a different matter and opinions seem to vary. Some say leave well alone apart from removing the dead/diseased/crossing bits, at least until established. Others say it’s fine to treat them like a normal shrub rose, cutting back by around a third and shortening the lateral growth to three ‘eyes’ to encourage new growth and more blooms. Be interested in hearing what others do as I have a few new bourbons this year. I guess it also depends on whether they are climbing or not..
I use top rose for feeding, I do pick some up from asda etc when they sell them off at the end of the season .