Following on from some chat on another thread, I said I’d start one on here re roses. Any hints, tips and lots of photos welcome!
Disclaimer: I am not a competent gardener, but I do love my roses. I will start with a few separate posts to allow for relevant photos.
To start, I love the David Austin website. You can search by colour, size, aspect etc. And there is plenty of helpful information re planting, pruning, watering, feeding etc. However, you also NEED to request their brochure. It is a thing of beauty and I look forward to receiving it every year - so many gorgeous photos to pour over!
I had never had or planted roses before. I wanted to make roses the focal point for my front garden. Partly for ease - rather than having a garden with a variety of plants that needed different care at different times, this means that they all get the same care at the same time.
With regards to planting/care:
A couple of weeks before planting, I made sure that I dug plenty of well-rotted manure into the beds. When planting, I sprinkled Mycorrhizal Fungi into the hole and over the rootball.
I prune, feed and mulch around the first half of March. It can be done earlier, but I like to try and wait as long as possible to avoid frosts. By the time you come to doing this most leaves should already be gone, but if there are any left then these should be removed.
I then feed and mulch again after they’ve had their first flush of blooms - this is usually around the beginning of July for me.
Other than that, it’s keeping on top of deadheading. That can be quite a lot for me - I’ve got 18 shrubs and 5 standards.
If anyone is looking for roses, David Austin have 15% off until 18 April - the code is PILGRIM.
Will add some photos in further posts. Looking forward to seeing lots of rose love on here!