Hello Dear Rose Friends,
It’s a waiting game now – lots of varieties of roses are still in the ground because we’re waiting for them to harden up enough to endure being dug and shipped around the country – the worst thing we can do is lift them whilst they’ve got soft growth. So, bring on the frosts to harden them up!
If Tuesday was anything to go by, we’ll be digging frantically from here onwards because we had minus 5 degrees here at Clonbinane!
… Let’s get right to the giggle part of this email.
HAVE A GIGGLE
Q. Why did Dad stop using his loyalty card to scrape ice from his windshield?
A. He only got 10% off.
REMOVE OLD ROSES TO REPLANT NEW ROSES ...
Common question … here’s an email exchange which you might find useful …
I am moving into a retirement village at the end of the year. The roses planted in the front of the house are not very attractive so I want to replace them. Is there any way other than removing all the soil, to plant new roses and have them thrive?
Warm regards Prue
My response: I wouldn't remove ALL the soil - that's a huge undertaking! So, if you remove the old plants, put at least one whole bag of compost (30litres) into the hole and dig it through the entire planting hole space - oh, say, 75cms around - pour seaweed solution and perhaps add some liquid fertilizer to that once a week for around 4 weeks, the soil should be settled enough for you to plant new roses.
In other words, the more you put into the new planting holes, the more beautifully the new roses will settle and flourish. A quality mulch using again, perhaps bagged composted materials, will be beneficial too. Best wishes ... Gra
IS IT TIME TO REMOVE OLD ROSES IN FAVOUR OF NEW ONES? ...
We’re asked this question so frequently and it would be so easy to just say, “Yes, of course, new roses would be sensational”. However, in many situations, that wouldn’t be an honest response and I think this situation with Jill is one of those … read on …
Hello! I’ve been gardening in the hinterland of the NSW Central Coast for the last 30 years and doing my best to grow good roses. I have 40 David Austin’s in raised beds in the Rose Garden proper and many other roses, mostly rugosas and old roses, throughout the garden beds. We have Sydney summers but frost in winter.
The David Austin’s looked amazing for about 5 years after first planting in 2000 but these days I just can’t seem to bring on the magic again. Same for the allee of Roserae de l’Hay. I know our humidity is a huge problem and these last 4 years of wet have been ruinous for roses.
I prune in July with lime sulphur treatment and feed with either horse or cow manure. In Jan they get a light cut back and another feed.
Three main questions:
What is a reasonable life for David Austin roses in my conditions?
When I replace roses of any kind how should I treat the soil?
How should I prune the rugosas? (I believe they only need a light trim and one or two old canes removed but at the end of summer their stems look blackened and half dead).
I love your ramblings!
Thanks a bunch for the experience and wisdom you propagate!!! Jill
MY RESPONSE … Hi Jill ... I reckon that if you were to invest in a really high-quality organic fertilizer which is similar to our Complete Organic Fertilizer (all major nutrients, minor nutrients and trace elements in a base of humates) then you would see your roses in a whole different light - in fact, I would apply ANY FERTILIZER! Animal manure is limited in what it affords plants such as roses which have immense ability to produce massive numbers of flowers over a very extended period of time.
Add to the fact that your soil has had immense rain over the past seasons, all the more reason to apply additional fertilizer because anything that was there will have leached well and truly under many inundations! This is so very, very important as you reach the stage of ripping out your roses because they're not performing ... honestly, if you applied fertilizer immediately after pruning (soon) and then again on an 8 week cycle, you would see a massive improvement in your plants. Would you please run it past me what fertilizer you select?
There's brilliant fertilizer and there's ordinary fertilizers which are a bit like eating take-away food - satisfied for a short time but no substance in the food!!!
Yes, you light prune those old-fashioned roses - remove all dead wood of course! Many old DA's did have issues with health and vigour - hence, they're currently unavailable and have been replaced with more healthy varieties. This happened on a world-scale with all rose breeders who needed to increase the healthy vigour in their rose-breeding programs, simply because chemicals became banned!
This is an absolute boon to rose-growers like us because we gave up using chemicals more than 35 years ago and there are times when I wish I could delist some older varieties in favour of their way, way more-healthy look-alikes!
Saying all this, it might be time, after 24 years of growing in your sometimes difficult conditions, to replace some of the roses but I definitely wouldn't do an absolute cull of your garden!!! Be discretionary and go around the garden with some coloured tape - mark those varieties which have given you grief for more than just the last two years - get rid of them this winter and prepare their holes by removing about 4 shovels-full of soil which should then be replaced from soil around another area of your garden or imported from a reputable supplier. Sometimes, bagged garden soil/compost is a good idea! Dig the new product into the planting hole, pour liquid seaweed over it and leave it until you select a new variety to be planted in that location - within 3-4 weeks you can definitely replant in that location.
I hope this gives you the courage to 'renovate' your garden ... best wishes and do keep us posted if we can give more advice. Cheers
Then Jill responded: Oh wow! Amazing to hear from you so quickly! I should have said I make my own lovely compost which is the main source of feed throughout the garden. On the roses as well as treating the soil with this and cow or horse at pruning time, I might use Katek Organic Life in Spring and occasionally Sudden Impact. I also have a new fertilizer from Queensland with mycelium etc.
Thanks very much for the great advice. Jill
It’s great to know that Jill’s roses were fertilized throughout their time in her garden and since her garden and ours here at Clonbinane are around the same age, we know that renovating a rose garden is absolutely imperative after 20 years!
HAVE ANOTHER GIGGLE ...
Q. What does a cloud wear under his raincoat?
A. Thunderpants ...
SPECIAL OFFER ...
Last week we did the A-B-C in climbers and this week, just for the fun of it, we’ll do
D-E-F of three fabulous, seriously free-flowering and super healthy varieties:
They’d look terrific planted as a group where you’ll go very frequently to pick a wonderful bunch of blooms for vases in the house … the fragrance will be scentsational too!
$99.90 posted to your door within 10 days of ordering! Do start preparing the planting holes as soon as you place your order and enjoy these beauties for years in your garden.
ROSE PRUNING DEMONSTRATIONS ...
Places are filling fast so be sure to secure your ticket to our day at Ken’s flower farm where you’re sure to enjoy a fabulous day out! Hope we see you there as we’re getting really excited now about sharing our pruning skills and de-mystifying this important part of rose growing …
Enjoy the cold mornings and sunny days of winter …