Eeeeek help any gardeners

[suzukijax 0]

Not a clue where to start i have two white rose bushes in the front garden i want to keep them but they are looking a little untidy new buds are just appearing but the older ones need to go how do i cut them without spoiling the look thanks from not a bloody clue

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

@suzukijax wrote:

Not a clue where to start i have two white rose bushes in the front garden i want to keep them but they are looking a little untidy new buds are just appearing but the older ones need to go how do i cut them without spoiling the look thanks from not a bloody clue

once they have flowered cut them back to a outer facing bud

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

http://gardening.about.com/od/rose1/a/RosePruning.htm

[Guest Guest]

Dead head = remove the old heads, just clip off under the bud with secateurs and it will continue to flower. Same applies for all those sort of plants. Come the autumn, heavy prune. Tip is don't let friends prune your roses lol. Roses can withstand heavy pruning and always come back bigger and stronger - unless the winter gets them.

[suzukijax 0]

Thanks you two i will have a go

[dick65 0]

hi jax,i garden for a living the above advice is good and in spring prune back hard then when new buds appear you can shape it to how you want also clear away old leaves from base as these can contain blackspot fungi spores and give it a good feed and mulch

[XS1100 0]

Hooooo I learned some thing there to

[suzukijax 0]

thankyou

[dick65 0]

no probs jax

[Guest Guest]

Another great tip is never to put the black spot/diseased leaves in the composter or the cycle just continues. I bought a book called 'old wives lore for gardeners' where they say about something the discovered by accident. Basically during the war, nation was rationed and they made use of everything, esp things like beef dripping on toast (bleh). You know how fat collects in drains? Well they cleared theirs and found a big bit of nasty looking lard/fat. So they buried it, cos if they'd put it in the bin, they'd be seen as being wasteful. So they buried it in the garden by the roses... and they grew with big blooms and bigger than usual. So going on this, I buy the cheap blocks of lard, melt them down and then pour it around the roots (not on them) of my roses, then cover it up. So far it's worked.

[XS1100 0]

So If I am peckesh I will bring some bread and me spade again another Good tip thanks

[suzukijax 0]

Sometimes its well worth listening to the older generation thanks noz My dad used to eat dripping on toast

[poleman1 0]

the blackspot spores are actually in the ground !, also when you do prune and its kinder to do a heavy prune at end of year, when you prune cut at an angle so water won`t sit on the cut

[Guest Guest]

my dad used to have dripping on toast... good for roast tatties NOT for spreading! (what no vomiting smilie??)