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Old rose looks worse and worse
Philipp
Posts: 7
Dear GW-Forum,
we have a beautiful old rose in our garden here in northern germany. I think it might be "New Dawn". It has been producing lots of flowers all summer.
For the past few years it has been looking worse and worse though producing less foliage and flowers.
It had a kind of fungus aswell. We did not want to use any fungicides but tried to rake the fallen leaves away.
Do you think it would be a good idea to cut it back to the ground and wait for it to regrow from the base? I would really like to keep it and if there is any way to bering it back to its former strenght that would be really nice!
Kind regards,
Phil
0
Posts
It looks to be in a relatively small planting area. My guess is that all the nutrients are very depleted and struggling for food.
I'd remove the oldest wood to the base and leave the younger wood, cut it back to about 1m tall and give it a good feed.
Agree with Hosta. Also, pull up any weeds around the Base as they will also compete for food and water. Give it a trim and a feed and hopefully it'll get its vigour back!
I'd agree then in early March give it a bit of bfb and mulch well, hope it repays you
Does it get enough water? It's planted very close to the wall, which will help to keep it dry. It can't absorb fertiliser if it's too dry. So I'd do what others have said. Cut out the oldest woody stems, weed around the base, give it some rose food, lightly worked into the soil, give it a good water, mulch it and don't let the soil get too dry. I would also be inclined to use a fungicide, anti-fungus only - not a pesticide which is harmful to wildlife.
PS. I agree, it looks like The New Dawn.
Thanks a lot for all the replies! I can't wait for March now to get going.
The ground is inclined quite a bit so I might try to level it by adding some soil so the water doesn't run down as quickly. Then cutting, mulching, feeding... and I hope we will soon have a beautiful rose again.
Again: Thank you for all the help!
Phil
What would really help it is put down a bag of composted manure on and around the rose about 3-4 cm layer. This is better than compost and it would go someway to correcting the dryness and the thinness of the soil. Do this every year in spring. You should have no problem. New Dawn is a lovely rose but you need to feed it.
All good advice but don't feed or mulch it till it's had a good soaking.