Garden Centre

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

English roses

Are intoxicating. Their shape, colour and scent are spellbinding, but let us be completely honest: they are not the easiest thing to grow.

They appear at their best in the early days of summer and early days of autumn – by this time of the year they are looking pretty sad. But don’t despair, there should be plenty of other colour in your garden to compensate and there is just nothing to match them for fragrance. With proper mulching they should only need a really thorough water two or three times a week and some staking – especially in the current August winds!

If you’re an organic gardener (and why not?) instead of investing in a packet of rose feed, you can simply give them a handful of blood and bone meal in spring and another one of Epsom Salts in May with a final handful of Kelp (either as powder or as kelp and bark mulch) to get them happily through the autumn.

The real problem with English roses is black spot or mildew and if you see any, the first step is always to pull the spotted or mouldy leaves away from the plant at the stem and either burn them or put them in the rubbish bin – never compost them or you’ll be re-infesting the whole garden with mould or fungal spores. A new leaf will grow back within weeks and often isn’t infected at all.

The All Seasons Gardener at 9:37 AM

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