Why do some peoples roses look lovely and bushy

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

And others look scrabbly and crappy (like mine!)

appropriate pruning? being fed properly? maybe both?

Sorry I don't do the pruning so I can't help but someone here will know

Pruning and manier/fertilizer. Age also plays a role.

Are they planted where they get the sun, or is it a bit shady? Roses like sun.

And I'm assuming they're definitely bush roses and not ramblers/climbers

Otherwise, what the others said - good hard pruning, and lots of fertiliser/manure.

I don't know what kind if roses they are! Have pruned - should I chop it all back next yr?

Dung. Judicious planting of other plants around, so you can't see the scraggy stems. Good pruning. Rose variety. Age of plant. Luck...

You can also chop up (with scissors) banana skins, and put them around the base of the bushes (in the soil I assume!), or leave banana skins to soak in water for a time, then water them with that (but that may be stinky, and not good if you have a small garden.

Also, some varieteis will naturally be more 'bushy'. DO you mean the blooms btw, or the actual bush?

I pruned a rose bush right back in width in the late autumn but not so much in height and it has grown so many flowers

Both

You won't get big flowers if it's not a big-flowered variety.

Have you got a picture at all?

Pruning picture here

Use plenty of fertiliser, good soil = happy vigorous plant!

feed them.

Use any liquid food now, to get them to grow for this year. But also for the longer term, they need compost/manure round their feet once a year. Or buy David Austen's rose food and dig it in round their feet.

What do I feed them? (We're trying to be as organic as we can - we have a wormery?)

Jazz roses love acid soil and sun (well most of them do) leftover coffee and tea or wine mixed with rain water (some old wives say a dead dog buried under a rose is all you need) i agree about the bananas too or a specific organic rose feed. I'm on alkili soil so have bad luck with roses except the climbers which are happier.

They'd love the compost from your wormery I'm sure

There are sooooo many types of rose google them it's confusing!!

Lovely David Austin roses, serious pruning on my part and feeding with either our own compost or tomato food. I'm in Sussex, and they flower from May til late October.
What sort of roses are yours?

I have 3 roses that I have absolutely no idea what they are or how I would even go about finding out and I have a David Austin rose that I brought afew weeks ago.
The unknown roses are the ones that id like to make good - last year they straggled and had 1 or 2 flowers each (one yellow one peach one mixed)

How do I know if I have acidic soil?

I also doing have a dead dog to hand

you can buy soil test sets at any diy/gardening store.
horse poo (riot police?) is good as are coffee grounds (some coffee places give them away for free or very little charge).

well, we live in an alkaline soil area, so does my mum. He roses are amazing, and I have 2 amazing ones (put in by me) and several that were here when i moved in and they were pruned and fed last year, and this year are perking up.

Not convinced about the acidic soil!

this also

www.sarahraven.com/how-to/growing-flowers/4/how-train-roses

Thanks funnyperson I'll try that in November (if I remember!) Although on the label of my new rosa rugosa climber it says don't prune for the first 2 years.

steppemum It could also be the texture of our soil that the shrub roses don't like because we're on tuffeau stone. As i said the climbers do okay.