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Rose ignorance
I've been buying a few roses over the last year or so. I have Charles de Mills, which I love but the growth seems weak and the flowers heavy. Flowers end up in the mud.
Is this how they usually grow? New growth is already about a metre tall and not looking sturdy enough to support the flowers. Should I cut it back or is it the sort that will flower next year on this year's wood? It gets a fair bit of sun but not full sun
Thanks in anticipation
In the sticks near Peterborough
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I have had a similar experience with the variety "Wisley". I think that frankly it should never have been released onto the market and is an example of the growers and, in this case the RHS, putting profit before good practice.
If I were you I would hit it very hard to try to stimulate stronger growth for next year. You don't have a lot to lose.
That's true, I'll give it a pruning. Thanks WW
In the sticks near Peterborough
I've found that this is a common problem with the David Austin 'Old Roses' - I think that their habit owes a lot to the genes they've inherited from the English shrub roses which are more like ramblers. Xa Tollemache has an amazing rose garden at Helmingham Hall and has 'invented' a form of support for her shrub-type roses
http://www.helmingham.com/rosesupports.asp
However, these are very expensive. I'm using whatever I can to support my David Austin Old Roses until they build up a large enough framework to support themselves in a sort of mound.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you Dove, I will look closely.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I'm trying to resist any pruning other than at the tip, to give the branches a chance to flop over and form the basis of a mound - if you get my meaning.
Nut, I hope you don't mind me singing the praises of the gardens at Helmingham Hall on this thread - it is a fantastic place. I grew up just a short cycle ride away. The walled veg garden was the inspiration for the one at Highgrove - I've not been for a couple of years due to lack of time but it's an absolute must for next year - the tea shop is highly recommended - I'd be happy to meet up with a Forker or three if anyone wants a gardening escapade next year.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Looks good to me Dove. I'm in favour of a meet-up.
I'd love to live near a garden like that.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Good-oh!!! Shall we put it in the diary for June when the roses are out?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Yes, we'll do that.
In the sticks near Peterborough
There's an alternative to expensive or unsightly supports if your shrub roses are producing long, leggy stems you can peg them. This simply means placing a peg in the ground and tieing the ends of the stems to it so you get a curved shape. Do this in late autumn so the stems don't get blown around and broken by the winds.
Come the spring, it's a bit like having trained a climber. Lots of new, shorter stems are produced from the main stems and these flower more readily as the nutrients pass more easily along a horizintal stem than a vertical one.
I did it on my Sceptr'd Isle roses a few years ago and it was amazing. Since then I've pruned them back hard to get in and deal with a mares' tail problem but they're ready for pegging again for next year's display. They can be underplanted with spring bulbs to extend the season of interest and will flower, in my experience, from late May or early June through to early December depending on weather conditions.
Great idea Obelixx
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.