Rose Bush repair

Posts

• Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889

  March 2017

  You need to try to get the stems as horizontal as possible. 

  Google: " apical dominance"

  If you look at the new young healthy shoots at the back, you'll see all the nice new growth at the tips. They want to grow up. If you get the stems flat, you'll get shoots all the way along the length of the stem .

  Thin out all the weedier old stems and rose hips too.

  Clear away the weeds at the base and give it a feed.

  Devon.

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• Obelixx Posts: 30,088

  March 2017

  I would weed the base of the rose stems so they're completely free of competition from grass and weeds and then give a generous handful of fertiliser such as pelleted chicken manure just gently forked into the soil and then water well - at least a gallon - and then mulch it with some potting compost or soil enricher which you can buy at garden centres and DIY.

  Then, as Hostas says, you need to train all the stems as horizontally as possible.  The simplest method is to attach vine eyes (screws with loops on the end) to the strongest parts of the fence at intervals of 123/30cms and then stretch wires between them to make a horizontal framework.   Then you gently tie in the stems as they grow.  Use garden twine and don't strangle them.  Leave room for growth and girth.  Make sure they're not strapped to the fence too tightly as they need air to circulate.

  The trained stems will then push out short flowering stems.  You can encourage this with liquid feeds of tomato food used between now and mid July.  No later as the new growth won't have time to mature before the frosts.

  See this site for general rose pruning info as well as climbing rose specifics - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=186

  Last edited: 17 March 2017 08:53:17

  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
  

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