Managed to plant two more in the ground today, though I did have an anxious moment with one of them as I couldn't dig a hole deeper than 12" before hitting garden rubble and the roots were 15" long! In desperation I rang David Austin's and asked if it would be ok to have a longer shallower trench and place the roots in a more horizontal position, and she said that would be fine, so, fingers crossed .........
I need to plant my remaining 3 Lads in pots today. I have some crocks (old terracotta plant pot shards) and I have some alpine grit. Which would you put in the bottom of a pot, and if crocks, does it matter if some are a bit green?
Not my most successful gardening day ever! First I drove over to the other side of town to pick up another large plastic pot for one of the Shropshire Lads at B&Q. But they'd run out of matching saucers. Home via my local GC to pick up some John Innes 3 and look at their saucers - but they didn't have the right size. Got home and realised the pot was bigger than the other two. Back to B&Q to exchange it (long wait at tills), then a roundabout way home to go to Homebase and get a matching saucer. Quick lunch. Got one Lad planted in first pot and was doing very well with the second one - 3/4 full of mixed compost, when I suddenly realised that I forgot to put the special fungi on the roots .......so yanked the rose out and a lot of the compost and started again. You'd think it couldn't get any worse...........but then I kicked over the container with the carefully measured out fungi ........ I finally locked up the shed and came in at 5.40....in the dark, and still with one more rose to plant. Perhaps I'm getting too old for this sort of thing
Cheer up. It's happens to all of us. I have forgotten the fungi stuff and had to start again and last time I planted rose spilled it all over my pink wheelbarrow,
Just think be worth it in long run
Expect to see photos of your efforts in the summer
I only put a very thin layer of Alpine grit at the bottom of my pots as I was afraid that if I put any more then the water might not drain through the very small holes. Then yesterday we had loads of rain followed by overnight snow, and today I find that the saucers the pots are standing on are full to the brim with water. Will this be bad for my roses and if so, should I get rid of that standing water by soaking it up with a towel or something?
I usually stand all pots whatever is in them on 2 bricks with a space between in the winter so that the water flows away. Saucers in summer, but if your roses are too heavy to keep moving I would support them on those feet (packs of 3) you can buy at GC and make sure kept well watered in summer.
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Try Clematis etolie violette.
Managed to plant two more in the ground today, though I did have an anxious moment with one of them as I couldn't dig a hole deeper than 12" before hitting garden rubble and the roots were 15" long! In desperation I rang David Austin's and asked if it would be ok to have a longer shallower trench and place the roots in a more horizontal position, and she said that would be fine, so, fingers crossed .........
Great - always pays to contact supplier if you are not sure
I need to plant my remaining 3 Lads in pots today. I have some crocks (old terracotta plant pot shards) and I have some alpine grit. Which would you put in the bottom of a pot, and if crocks, does it matter if some are a bit green?
I would use shards, just to keep hole open for drainage, I doubt it matters about the green but you could give them a scrub to make sure.
Bjay
Not my most successful gardening day ever! First I drove over to the other side of town to pick up another large plastic pot for one of the Shropshire Lads at B&Q. But they'd run out of matching saucers. Home via my local GC to pick up some John Innes 3 and look at their saucers - but they didn't have the right size. Got home and realised the pot was bigger than the other two. Back to B&Q to exchange it (long wait at tills), then a roundabout way home to go to Homebase and get a matching saucer. Quick lunch. Got one Lad planted in first pot and was doing very well with the second one - 3/4 full of mixed compost, when I suddenly realised that I forgot to put the special fungi on the roots .......so yanked the rose out and a lot of the compost and started again. You'd think it couldn't get any worse...........but then I kicked over the container with the carefully measured out fungi ........ I finally locked up the shed and came in at 5.40....in the dark, and still with one more rose to plant. Perhaps I'm getting too old for this sort of thing
Cheer up. It's happens to all of us. I have forgotten the fungi stuff and had to start again and last time I planted rose spilled it all over my pink wheelbarrow,
Just think be worth it in long run
Expect to see photos of your efforts in the summer
Bjay
Bless you Rosa!
I only put a very thin layer of Alpine grit at the bottom of my pots as I was afraid that if I put any more then the water might not drain through the very small holes. Then yesterday we had loads of rain followed by overnight snow, and today I find that the saucers the pots are standing on are full to the brim with water. Will this be bad for my roses and if so, should I get rid of that standing water by soaking it up with a towel or something?
I usually stand all pots whatever is in them on 2 bricks with a space between in the winter so that the water flows away. Saucers in summer, but if your roses are too heavy to keep moving I would support them on those feet (packs of 3) you can buy at GC and make sure kept well watered in summer.