By Mark Hoskins Nursery Supervisor at Thorngrove
March is a great time of year for planting roses to fill your garden with colour and fragrance throughout the summer. It’s also the month when roses are traditionally pruned to produce the best flowers later in the year. This month I’ll discuss how to choose, plant and prune your roses to give enjoyment for years to come.
There are many types of roses to choose from, ranging from miniatures to grow in pots on your patio to climbers and ramblers that can be trained on a wall or even grown through a tree. But the most popular are the bush roses, which come in two forms – hybrid teas which have large, classically- shaped individual blooms, and floribundas with their masses of smaller flowers.
When choosing any rose, a few things to bear in mind include: try to pick one with at least three sturdy branches and a nice open habit. Avoid any showing obvious signs of disease such as black spot, rust or die back. Make sure you get the right rose for your garden; some shrub roses can grow quite big if you don’t have a lot of space.
Roses are quite straightforward to plant and not really fussy in their requirements. Most roses prefer full sun or semi shade, and won’t thrive in deep shade. A windy, exposed site is best avoided.
They like a heavy, fertile soil and have quite deep roots, so dig a large deep hole and add plenty of compost at planting time. Water them in and keep well watered through their first summer. Never plant roses in soil that has previously had roses growing in it. They will quickly succumb to rose replant sickness.
Once established, roses need regular pruning to keep them healthy and flowering well. This is usually done in Spring, just before growth starts.
Bush roses flower on new wood, so the previous year’s growth can be cut back to a height of six inches to a foot. Always cut just above a dormant outward facing bud and make your cut at an angle so that it slopes away from the bud. At the same time remove any dead, diseased, or damaged wood, any crossing branches, and any that are growing into the centre of the bush.
The aim is to produce an open, cup-shaped plant. Keep your roses well-fed and check for pests and diseases and they’ll reward you with fragrant flowers year after year.