Amateur Gardening – 24 August 2019

8 AMATEUR GARDENING24 AUGUST 2019

Prune your ramblers

Cutbackafterfloweringandtieerrantstems,saysRuth

O

URroseshavedonewell
thisyear,withfewercasesof
blackspotthannormalanda
wonderfulshowofflowers.
Oneof thebesthasbeenanold
ramblingvarietyat thefrontof thehouse
thatthissummerwasswathedin pink
budsthatopenedintocreamy-white
blooms– absolutelygorgeou
It hasgoneovernow,so
needspruning.It is alsotime
todeadheadourclimbing
rose,too,whichwill
hopefullyencouragethe
planttothrowouta few
moreflowersin the
earlyautumn.
Ramblingandclimbingros
looksimilar,butbehaveverydifferently.
Climbingrosesrepeat-flowerthroughout
summerandintoautumn,whereas
rambling roses have just one burst of

colourandthenproducehips.Once

theyhavefinished flowering, it is time to

prunethem.

Removespentflowerheads,then

cutawayanywaywardshootsandthin

excessivegrowthbycuttingout one in

threeof theoldeststems.

Finishthejobbytrimmingback

rownsideshootsbyaround

o-thirdsandtyingthemin

e directionyouwant

hemtogrow.

Gettingupcloseand

personallikethisalsolets

youcheckplantsforpests

nddiseasesandtreatthem

cordingly.Watchoutfor

s thathavebeenbundled

intolongcigarshapes.Theyarea

symptomof roseleaf-rollingsawfly

caterpillarsthatwillbehappilyfeeding

and growing inside the leaf ‘cigars’.

Whenramblersbecomecongested,theirflowering

canstarttodropoffand they become vulnerable to

pestsanddiseases.

Tothinthemout,removealldead, diseased,

crossingandweakshoots.

Cutbacksomeof theolderstemsrighttothe

ground,keepinga maximum of six young, healthy

stemsthatcanbetiedin.

Sawawayanydeadstumpsandshortenside

shoots.Cutthetipsbyone third to one half, to

encouragebranching.

Thefollowingspring,feedwitha granularrosefee

it in and mulch generously with well-rotted manure of compost.

Renovating an overgrown rambling rose

Tidyupyourramblersonce

theirsingleflush of blooms

has fi nished

Directstemsby

tying them in

Cutbackwayward

stems

1

Thisis thelastchancetofeed

roses– dosolaterandthe

newestgrowthrisksbeingdamaged

orkilledif it doesn’thavetimeto

harden and mature before winter.

2

Roseshaveshallowroot

systemsthatcanbeeasily

damagedif youusea hoe.Remove

weeds with a hand fork instead.

3

Pulloutrosesuckersfrom

belowtheground.They

emergefromtheplant’srootstock

andwillreturn more vigorously

if cut off.

4

Containerrosesriskdryingout,

sowaterwelleverydayduring

dryspells.Useanorganic mulch to

help retain moisture.

Maintaining

rose health

Feed and reduce plant competition

Step

by step

Deadheadbutleave

some for hips

Cutold,congestedstems

right back to the ground