roses- help

[HerHonesty]

moved into a house in october 08 just before birth of dd - have several large, mature , overgrown which i probably should have paid more attention to in the winter spring but you know... nappies to change etc. getting round to doing things now so my plan is to

tie up falling/collaping rose bushes
dead head
feed
mulch (will bark chipping do as a mulch?)

and then cutback/prune in autumn - or is it winter, or spring...

does that seem sensible?

anyone?

once they have finished flowering (probably september to be safe), hack right back

they flower on new growth so it depends how big you want them in the long term how much you'll want to hack

you can take them back almost to ground level and an established bush will shoot like mad come the spring

Climbers? Floribunda? Hybrid tea?

tubby, not a clue. i have about 15 different types.. all looking a bit straggly with lots of dead buds (the ones that look like rosehips) but all flowering now as well.

Hmmm, I always think it helps to know what you have if you're going to be tying back, training, or pruning. A few years back I bought what was labeled as a climber but it's really some sort of creeping rose ground cover-aaaaaargh! You might want to rake all around the base of each bush before putting down any bark chipping.

Please don't 'hack' roses - disease enters through ragged cuts. I'd take back the flowering stalks by about 1/3 after they finish flowering, and then hard back in the autumn.

I agree its worth working out what you have before doing any pruning.
Some great info on these sites
www.classicroses.co.uk/
and
www.davidaustinroses.com/english/Advanced.asp?Pag eId=1988

Or borrow a book from the library.

For now, your plan to tie in, dead head, feed and mulch sounds good.