Climbing roses unlike clematis and climbing Lonicera, unfortunately, don’t have any suckers on their shoots with which to cling to supports and walls. It’s up to you to ensure that they entwine themselves on the climbing framework that you provide. Here’s how to train a climbing rose; combine this with my guide on pruning climbing roses here to make a display to be proud of. What is a climbing rose? A climbing rose is simply a rose whose canes are…
A common question I get asked occasionally as a professional gardener is, ‘Why are my roses growing so tall’. My answer is they usually need pruning as they haven’t been pruned in years, or you might have purchased a climbing or rambling rose without realising. Sometimes, they don’t realise they need to prune their roses every spring to maintain a certain height, usually between 4-5ft. Roses are best pruned back to 20-30cm every year. The issue starts with plant labels…
You may see guides and people often say that the reason for your rose leaves turning yellow is dieback. But dieback is just a general term that means that something is stressing out your rose tree or bush. It takes some detective work to establish exactly what is making your rose plant unhappy. It could be pests or diseases, its growing environment or even how you’re treating it yourself. In most cases, it is probably black spot or rust disease,…
If your roses are losing their leaves, it’s due to one or more conditions that are causing them stress. This could come from the environment they’re in, from the weather, from pests and diseases or from how you’re caring for the plants. On the other hand, roses losing their leaves could be part of their natural life cycle. For most people, if you have black spots on the leaves, then turn yellow before falling; it’s likely a disease such as…
Your roses are probably drooping due to watering problems. Most people know that not watering roses enough will lead to them dropping, especially if you grow roses in pots. Potted plants have limited soil to retain moisture, and roses can quickly outgrow pots. Even roses grown in the ground may need watering occasionally, especially during periods of drought or even very hot weather, and newly planted roses need consistent regular watering until established. Many gardeners don’t realise that too much…
The leaves on your roses are curling, most probably due to a pest or disease, with the most likely reason being a pest called Rose sawfly, which I discuss further down in more detail. However, it could be powdery mildew which is easy to identify by the white fine coating, which you usually notice first. Another possible reason, especially if you grow roses in pots which I talked about here. It might be as simple as you’re under-watering your plant….
I’ve been growing roses in pots for over 20 years, and although I have roses in raised beds, as well as maintaining large rose beds as part of my garden maintenance business. I also love to grow roses in pots and think it’s a great alternative to growing them in the ground. I just love the idea of scented roses on the patio or balcony and the fantastic displays you get from the longer flowering varieties such as the Floribunda…
Unfortunately, roses are vulnerable to quite a few pests and diseases, and when I think about all the plants I’ve grown over the years, they’re the only plant where I try to prevent diseases in the first place. I’ve had the most success spraying roses with fungicides early on in the season to help prevent diseases like rust, blackspot and mildew. Prevention is much better than trying to treat a disease once it sets in. The good news is that…
Although the different types and varieties of roses have different pruning needs, most require only light pruning to keep them in shape and encourage vigorous growth. I cover the main points of how and when to prune roses here, plus some specific tips for the different kinds of roses after over 20 years of pruning roses myself. I worked in the family nursery for almost 20 years and potted up, pruned and sold thousands of roses so I know a…
It’s disheartening when your roses are turning brown before they open, I know the feeling as it happened to me on many occasions over the years. They’ve grown fully so why don’t they just bloom in full colour? The answer is probably a fungal disease called botrytis blight or a disorder called flower balling. Read on to learn what to do about these problems. Flower balling (rose balling) What is flower balling? Flower balling is a disorder that’s caused by…