Rose Gardening Calendar

JANUARY

The start of your Rose Gardening month by month!

This is ideal month to order and plant your bare-root roses, as we are now busy lifting and sending out orders and are currently dispatching orders in 1-2 days from when ordered.

The recommended planting times for bare-root roses is from November to late March, so take advantage of the dark winter evenings and have a slow peruse through our website where you will find the best pictures, nearly all photographed in our fields, to make your selections.

If you don’t yet want the work of soil preparation and planting or you are thinking of giving a bush rose as a gift for a special occasion (Don’t forget Valentine’s Day, February 14th ), we also send our roses out in pots, making them easy to deal with once received and can be simply left in these pots outdoors, always keeping the specially formulated rose compost moist until spring before planting into its final position. We also offer an optional gift wrap and card service for all rose orders.

Roses in the Garden (U.K)

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information. Rootgrow will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched.

Established Roses
Bush, Climbing and Shrub roses: For Midlands and South of England, if you have not already done so, it’s now time to do your main pruning of your roses. Recent milder winters mean by March (The traditional time for pruning) your roses in these areas will already have long shoots on them and pruning these off in March will delay flowering by a month or more, so do it now! For areas north of the Midlands just lightly prune for now to look tidy and do your main pruning in February or March during mild weather. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS and GLOVES.

Pruning for Midlands and South of England:
H.T and Floribunda Bushes: Cut main stems down to around 30cm/12″ to just above an outward facing leaf, completely remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Patio Bush Roses: Prune back to around 15cm/6″ also remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Large Flowering Climbers: Re-tie and train in main shoots to fence or structure, any ugly long tall shoots that cannot be trained can be removed from where they started shooting from, all side shoots coming from your main stems should be cut back to around 3″ from where they shoot from the mains stems.

Ramblers and Patio Climbers: Lightly prune to shape and tie in any loose or floppy growth.

Ground Cover Roses and Weeping Standards: Prune to Shape

Standard Roses: H.T, Floribunda and Patio. Prune main shoots at the top of the stem back to the heights listed above again also removing any weak or dead growth, check your wooden stakes for rot and replace with a pressure treated 1.5″ square x 4/5ft wooden stake if needed

Dispose of all your pruning waste on a bonfire if allowed in your area or your local tip, for roses showing problems with blackspot this is also a good time to clean up the soil and plants by killing overwintering disease spores.
We recommend using Sulphur Rose. This attacks blackspot spores giving fast and effective control as s preventative or cure for problems. Apply as a winter drench (30g per 4.5lts) to control or kill off Black spot and rose disease spores in the soil which in turn will prevent re-infection to Rose Plants from soil borne spores. Spray up to every 2 weeks during active growth, non-resistant so can be used regularly on roses. Manufactured by Greenacres Direct.

PLANTING AND PRUNING SHOULD BE DELAYED DURING PROLONGED COLD WEATHER, WHILST FROSTY BOTH DAY AND NIGHT OR SNOW ON GROUND!

 

FEBRUARY

This is another ideal month to order and plant your bare-root roses, we are now busy lifting and sending out orders and are currently dispatching orders in less than 1-2 days from when ordered (excluding weekends).

The recommended planting times for bare-root roses is from November to late March, so take advantage of the dark winter evenings and have a slow peruse through our website where you will find the best pictures, nearly all photographed in our fields, to make your selections.

If you are thinking of giving a bush rose as a gift for a special occasion or unable at present to plant in the garden we can also send them out all through the year in pots with optional gift card and wrap, making them easy to deal with once received and can be simply left in these pots outdoors, always keeping the specially formulated rose compost moist until spring before planting into its final position.

Roses in the Garden (U.K)

New Roses
Weather permitting, prepare the ground well for any new bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information, Rootgrow will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched, if it’s too cold or wet to plant now, don’t worry bare-root roses can be safely stored in their original packaging for 3-4 weeks when supplied at this time of year or buy container for planting later in the spring once fully rooted.

Established Roses
Bush, Climbing and Shrub roses: For U.K gardeners, if you have not already pruned your roses and you are experiencing mild weather, now is the time to do your main pruning of your roses, recent milder winters due to global warming mean by March (The traditional time for pruning) your roses in these areas will already have long shoots on them and pruning these off in March will delay flowering by a month or more, so prune as soon as you can but not during cold frosty weather. For Midlands and South of England, if you have not already done so, it’s now time to do your main pruning of your roses. Recent milder winters mean by March (The traditional time for pruning) your roses in these areas will already have long shoots on them and pruning these off in March will delay flowering by a month or more, so do it now! For areas north of the Midlands just lightly prune for now to look tidy and do your main pruning in February or March during mild weather. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS and GLOVES.

Pruning recommendations:
H.T and Floribunda Bushes: Cut main stems down to around 30cm/12″ to just above an outward facing leaf, completely remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Patio Bush Roses: Prune back to around 15cm/6″ also remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Large Flowering Climbers: Re-tie and train in main shoots to fence or structure, any ugly long tall shoots that cannot be trained can be removed from where they started shooting from, all side shoots coming from your main stems should be cut back to around 3″ from where they shoot from the mains stems.

Ramblers and Patio Climbers: Lightly prune to shape and tie in any loose or floppy growth.

Ground Cover Roses and Weeping Standards: Prune to Shape

Standard Roses: H.T, Floribunda and Patio. Prune main shoots at the top of the stem back to the heights listed above again also removing any weak or dead growth, check your wooden stakes for rot and replace with a pressure treated 1.5″ square x 4/5ft wooden stake if needed

Dispose of all your pruning waste on a bonfire if allowed in your area or your local tip, for roses showing problems with blackspot this is also a good time to clean up the soil and plants by killing overwintering disease spores. We recommend using Sulphur Rose. This attacks blackspot spores giving fast and effective control as s preventative or cure for problems. Apply as a winter drench (30g per 4.5lts) to control or kill off Black spot and rose disease spores in the soil which in turn will prevent re-infection to Rose Plants from soil borne spores. Spray up to every 2 weeks during active growth, non-resistant so can be used regularly on roses. Manufactured by Greenacres Direct.

 

MARCH

March is the final month of the spring to order and plant your bare-root bush, climbing and Standard roses which is the cheapest way of buying our mail order roses (Bare-root season November to March) from us. If it’s not convenient for you to plant yet, do not worry as we can also supply you with container/potted bush and climbing roses throughout the year by mail order.

We are still busy lifting and sending out orders and are currently dispatching orders in 1 – 2 days from when ordered if you are not requesting delivery on a specific date.

We also offer an optional gift card and wrap service including your own personal special message, they are easy to deal with once received and can be simply left in these pots outdoors, always keeping the specially formulated rose compost moist until spring before planting into it’s final position.
Mother’s Day
We have plenty of fabulous varieties that will make the ideal gift for Mum that will grow in the garden or containers and provide many years of pleasure, the latest possible ordering time for roses by mail-order for Mother’s Day is by Thursday Mid-Day

Roses in the Garden (U.K)

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information, Rootgrow will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Established Roses
Bush, Climbing and Shrub roses: For all U.K gardeners, if you have not already pruned your roses hard this winter, this is the month to get it done! Prune during mild spells of weather, details below. For Midlands and South of England, if you have not already done so, it’s now time to do your main pruning of your roses. Recent milder winters mean by March (The traditional time for pruning) your roses in these areas will already have long shoots on them and pruning these off in March will delay flowering by a month or more, so do it now! For areas north of the Midlands just lightly prune for now to look tidy and do your main pruning in February or March during mild weather. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS and GLOVES.

Pruning recommendations:
H.T and Floribunda Bushes: Cut main stems down to around 30cm/12″ to just above an outward facing leaf, completely remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Patio Bush Roses: Prune back to around 15cm/6″ also remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Large Flowering Climbers: Re-tie and train in main shoots to fence or structure, any ugly long tall shoots that cannot be trained can be removed from where they started shooting from, all side shoots coming from your main stems should be cut back to around 3″ from where they shoot from the mains stems.

Ramblers and Patio Climbers: Lightly prune to shape and tie in any loose or floppy growth.

Ground Cover Roses and Weeping Standards: Prune to Shape

Standard Roses: H.T, Floribunda and Patio. Prune main shoots at the top of the stem back to the heights listed above again also removing any weak or dead growth, check your wooden stakes for rot and replace with a pressure treated 1.5″ square x 4/5ft wooden stake if needed

Dispose of all your pruning waste on a bonfire if allowed in your area or your local tip, for roses showing problems with blackspot this is also a good time to clean up the soil and plants by killing overwintering disease spores. We recommend using Sulphur Rose. This attacks blackspot spores giving fast and effective control as s preventative or cure for problems. Apply as a winter drench (30g per 4.5lts) to control or kill off Black spot and rose disease spores in the soil which in turn will prevent re-infection to Rose Plants from soil borne spores. Spray up to every 2 weeks during active growth, non-resistant so can be used regularly on roses. Manufactured by Greenacres Direct.

 

APRIL

Ordering Roses
The bare-root season has now ended until November, you can continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses. Alternatively, you can order bare-root roses to be supplied by mail order (including Standard Roses) from July for delivery from November to March.

Customers can continue to collect both potted Bush and Standard Roses from our Holbeach Nursery.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare‘ to order and for more information. ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched.

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Pruning should now have been completed and your roses will be in active growth with new leaves and shoots appearing on the stems in good numbers, re-check for any winter die back on stems and prune off brown or black stems if evident.

Feed each of your roses with Empathy After Plant Rose Feed or Top Rose. Sprinkle a handful around the base of each plant, lightly rake into soil and water in a few days after if you’ve not had any rain since applying, feeding is very important for roses and will benefit long term healthy growth and increase the number of blooms produced and improve flower and leaf colour.

Check Standard Rose Stakes, trellis, Fences and arches for possible winter decay and repair or replace where necessary, tie in any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

The arrival of warmer weather will also encourage greenfly and other pest populations to rapidly multiply and whilst black-spot and mildew are not normally seen on early growth, It is recommended, every 2 weeks from mid-April, spraying your roses with a combined fungicide and insecticide such as MULTIROSE 3 in 1 or SB PLANT INVIGORATOR alternating with a different product such UNCLE TOM’S ROSE TONIC (See Essential Rose Aftercare) to avoid resistance build up to the chemical in the plant. Prevention is better than cure, so be disciplined and spray regularly before you see problems! Do not spray during hot sunny weather as this will also scorch healthy growth, spray before mid-morning or in the evening if hot, leaves should be dry during spraying and for a few hours after.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS, WEAR APPROPRIATE SAFETY CLOTHING AS ADVISED ON THE LABELS AND ALWAYS GIVE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION TO WIND DIRECTION, NEIGHBOURS, PASSING PEOPLE OR ANIMALS WILDLIFE AND POND FISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN SPRAYING.

 

MAY

Ordering Roses
The bare-root season has now ended until November, however, do not worry as you can continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses which would need collecting at this time of year. Alternatively, you can order bare-root roses by telephone or off the website from July, to be supplied by mail order (including Standard Roses) in the Autumn, payment will not be taken from your account until a few days before dispatch.

Customers can continue to collect both potted Bush and Standard Roses from our Holbeach Nursery. PLEASE NOTE THE NURSERY ADDRESS IS DIFFERENT TO OUR OFFICE ADDRESS, SEE MAP FOR DETAILS.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready ideally a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information, ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses and hardy perennial plants. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Your roses will now be in active healthy growth, flower buds should be forming, and some early blooms should be appearing on some early flowering varieties, feed with a balanced rose feed if you have not already done so this spring and water in, if you’ve not had any rain after a few days.

Continue to tie in or support any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

Watering of established roses is not essential, but will improve performance, best time to water is early morning avoiding the leaves and splash back onto the foliage as wet leaves encourage diseases to spread.

It is recommended that you continue to spray your roses with a fungicide/insecticide at 2-week interludes alternating the active ingredients used each time (check product label).

The warmer weather will also encourage greenfly and other pest populations to rapidly multiply and whilst black-spot and mildew are not normally seen on early growth, it is recommended to spray your roses every 2 weeks with a combined fungicide and insecticide such as MULTIROSE 3 in 1 or SB PLANT INVIGORATOR alternating with a different chemical such as UNCLE TOM’S ROSE TONIC to avoid resistance

build up to the chemical in the plant. Prevention is better than cure, so be disciplined and spray regularly before you see problems! Do not spray during hot sunny weather as this will also scorch healthy growth, spray before mid-morning or in the evening if hot, leaves should be dry during spraying and for a few hours after.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS, WEAR APPROPRIATE SAFETY CLOTHING AS ADVISED ON THE LABELS AND ALWAYS GIVE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION TO WIND DIRECTION, NEIGHBOURS, PASSING PEOPLE OR ANIMALS WILDLIFE AND POND FISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN SPRAYING.

 

JUNE

Ordering Roses
You can still to continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses. Alternatively, from July, you can order bare-root roses to be supplied by mail order (including Standard Roses) in the Autumn from November to March, payment will not be taken from your account until a few days before dispatch.

Customers can continue to both view and purchase now both potted Bush and Standard Roses from our Holbeach Nursery by prior arrangement, alternatively why not come to one of our many Garden Shows we attend (see main page) where we would be very happy to bring along your pre-ordered roses.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see  “Essential Rose Aftercare” to order and for more information, ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses, dry, light and sandy soils and hardy shrubs. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Your roses will now be in active healthy growth and flowering or close to flowering, feed with a balanced rose feed if you have not already done so this spring and water in, if you’ve not had any rain after a few days.

Continue to tie in or support any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

Watering of established roses is not essential, but will improve performance, best time to water is early morning avoiding the leaves and splash back onto the foliage as wet leaves encourage diseases to spread.

It is recommended that you continue to spray your roses with a fungicide/insecticide at 2-week interludes alternating the active ingredients used each time (check product label).

Roses in Patio Pots or other containers should be watered every day during hot dry weather.

The warmer weather will also encourage greenfly and other pest populations, from previous research it is recommended to spray your roses every 2 weeks with a combined fungicide and insecticide such as MULTIROSE 3 in 1 alternating with a different chemical such as ROSECLEAR ULTRA or SB PLANT INVIGORATOR to avoid resistance build up to the chemical in the plant. Prevention is better than cure, so be disciplined and spray regularly before you see problems! Do not spray during hot sunny weather as this will also scorch healthy growth, spray before mid-morning or in the evening if hot, leaves should be dry during spraying and for a few hours after.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS, WEAR APPROPRIATE SAFETY CLOTHING AS ADVISED ON THE LABELS AND ALWAYS GIVE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION TO WIND DIRECTION, NEIGHBOURS, PASSING PEOPLE OR ANIMALS WILDLIFE AND POND FISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN SPRAYING.

 

JULY

Ordering Roses
You can still to continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses. Alternatively, you can soon order bare-root roses to be supplied by mail order (including Standard Roses) in the Autumn from November to March payment will not be taken from your account until a few days before dispatch.

Customers can continue to collect both potted Bush and Standard Roses from our Holbeach Nursery by prior arrangement, alternatively why not come to one of our many Garden Shows we attend (see main page) where we would be very happy to bring along your pre-ordered roses.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘, available from Style Roses into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information. ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses and hardy shrubs and is available in 3 sizes. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Your roses will now be in active healthy growth and flowering, dead head after flowering and when the whole of the flower truss has finished flowering prune back top growth to 1-2 leaves below the flower truss. Feed each of your roses with Empathy After Plant Rose Feed or TOP ROSE,  around the base of each rose and water in if conditions are dry.

Continue to tie in or support any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

Watering of established roses is not essential, but will improve performance, especially if hot and dry, best time to water is early morning avoiding the leaves and splash back onto the foliage as wet leaves encourage diseases to spread.

It is recommended that you continue to spray your roses with a fungicide/insecticide at 2-week interludes alternating the active ingredients used each time (check product label).

Roses in Patio Pots or other containers should be watered every day during hot dry weather.

The warmer weather will also encourage greenfly and other pest populations, it is recommended to spray your roses every 2 weeks with a combined fungicide and insecticide such as MULTIROSE 3 IN 1 or SB PLANT INVIGORATOR alternating with a different active ingredient such as Uncle Tom’s Tonic. Available from Style Roses to avoid resistance build up to the chemical in the plant. Prevention is better than cure, so be disciplined and spray regularly before you see problems! Do not spray during hot sunny weather as this will also scorch healthy growth, spray before mid-morning or in the evening if hot, leaves should be dry during spraying and for a few hours after.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS, WEAR APPROPRIATE SAFETY CLOTHING AS ADVISED ON THE LABELS AND ALWAYS GIVE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION TO WIND DIRECTION, NEIGHBOURS, PASSING PEOPLE OR ANIMALS, WILDLIFE AND FISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN SPRAYING.

POWDERY MILDEW
At this time of year, Powdery Mildew is often triggered in some varieties brought on by hot and humid conditions a powdery white residue can be seen on new leaf growth and although sometimes unsightly and difficult to control, it will not actually do any harm to the rose and following the above spraying recommendations and colder wetter weather will help the problem disappear. Uncle Tom’s Tonic and SULPHUR ROSE is strongly recommended as a foliar spray to help combat the problem, only a few of our varieties can get this problem, planting in an open, exposed airy position will also help greatly with this problem.

 

AUGUST

You can continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses, potted roses are being supplied within 1-2 days of ordering. Alternatively, you can order bare-root roses to be supplied by mail order (including Standard Roses) from November to March, this is the cheapest way of buying our roses, which will flower as normal next summer, payment will not be taken from your account until a few days before dispatch.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses

Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information, ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Your roses will be in active healthy growth and flowering, dead head after flowering and when the whole of the flower truss has finished flowering prune back top growth to 1-2 leaves below the flower truss, If you have not yet given your roses a second feed, feed now with a hand full of granular rose feed around the base of each rose and water in if condition are dry. (Empathy After Plant Rose Feed)

Continue to tie in or support any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

Watering of established roses is not essential, but will improve performance, best time to water is early morning avoiding the leaves and splash back onto the foliage as wet leaves encourage diseases to spread.

It is recommended that you continue to spray your roses with a fungicide/insecticide at 2-week interludes alternating the active ingredients used each time (check product label).

Roses in Patio Pots or other containers should be watered every day during hot dry weather.

The warmer weather will also encourage greenfly and other pest populations, it is recommended to spray your roses every 2 weeks with a combined fungicide and insecticide such as MULTIROSE 3 in 1 or SB PLANT INVIGORATOR alternating with a different chemical such as UNCLE TOM’S TONIC available from Style Roses to avoid resistance build up to the chemical in the plant. Prevention is better than cure, so be disciplined and spray regularly before you see problems! Do not spray during hot sunny weather as this will also scorch healthy growth, spray before mid-morning or in the evening if hot, leaves should be dry during spraying and for a few hours after.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS, WEAR APPROPRIATE SAFETY CLOTHING AS ADVISED ON THE LABELS AND ALWAYS GIVE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION TO WIND DIRECTION, NEIGHBOURS, PASSING PEOPLE OR ANIMALS, WILDLIFE AND FISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN SPRAYING.

POWDERY MILDEW
At this time of year, Powdery Mildew is often triggered in some varieties brought on by hot and humid conditions a powdery white residue can be seen on new leaf growth and although sometimes unsightly and difficult to control, it will not actually do any harm to the rose and following the above spraying recommendations and colder wetter weather will help the problem disappear. Uncle Tom’s Tonic and SULPHUR ROSE is strongly recommended as a foliar spray. to help combat the problem, planting in an open, exposed airy position will also help greatly with this problem.

 

SEPTEMBER

Ordering Roses
Now is the time to start thinking about your autumn planting and order your bare-root roses and prepare your beds in readiness. You can continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, and currently a good number of our varieties are still available in pots and quality is excellent, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses which can only be supplied by mail order as bare-root roses from November to March unless collected.

Customers can continue to collect both potted Bush and Standard Roses from our Holbeach Nursery by prior arrangement.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole at planting time and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information. ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Your roses should still be in active healthy growth and flowering, dead head after flowering and when the whole of the flower truss has finished flowering prune back top growth to 1-2 leaves below the flower truss, any tall growth should be cut back to avoid wind damage. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS and GLOVES.

Do not feed your roses anymore this year with granular rose feeds as they are on their final flush of flowers now and the plant needs to prepare itself for the winter and encouraging new growth with feeding now would only likely get damaged by later frosts. The use of Uncle Tom’s Tonic is still recommended whilst in active growth.

Continue to tie in or support any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

Continue to spray your roses fortnightly for pest and disease prevention always following label recommendations, alternate your rose sprays to prevent resistance.

If dry, watering of established roses in the borders is not essential, but will improve performance, best time to water is early morning avoiding the leaves and splash back onto the foliage as wet leaves encourage diseases to spread.

Roses in Patio Pots or other containers should still be watered regularly during dry weather.

POWDERY MILDEW
At this time of year, Powdery Mildew is often triggered in some varieties brought on by hot and humid conditions a powdery white residue can be seen on new leaf growth and although sometimes unsightly and difficult to control, it will not actually do any harm to the rose and following the above spraying recommendations and colder wetter weather will help the problem disappear. Uncle Tom’s Tonic and SULPUR ROSE is strongly recommended as a foliar spray. to help combat the problem, planting in an open, exposed airy position will also help greatly with this problem.

 

OCTOBER

Ordering Roses
Now is the time to start thinking about your autumn planting and order your bare-root roses and prepare your beds in readiness. You can continue to order and receive container/potted Bush roses by mail order throughout the year, and currently a good number of our varieties are still available in pots and quality is excellent, this includes Climbing and English roses but excludes Standard Roses which can only be supplied by mail order as bare-root roses from November to March unless collected.

Customers can continue to collect both potted Bush and Standard Roses from our Holbeach Nursery by prior arrangement.

Roses in the Garden (U.K), What needs doing!

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new potted roses bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole at planting time and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information. ROOTGROW will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Keep newly planted roses watered until well established in the ground or container especially important during prolonged dry weather spells.

Established Roses
Your roses should still be in active healthy growth and flowering, dead head after flowering and when the whole of the flower truss has finished flowering prune back top growth to 1-2 leaves below the flower truss, any tall growth should be cut back to avoid wind damage. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS AND GLOVES.

Do not feed your roses anymore this year with granular rose feeds as they are on their final flush of flowers now and the plant needs to prepare itself for the winter and encouraging new growth with feeding now would only likely get damaged by later frosts. The use of Uncle Tom’s Tonic is still recommended whilst in active growth.

Continue to tie in or support any long new growth on Climbing Roses.

Continue to spray your roses fortnightly for pest and disease prevention always following label recommendations, alternate your rose sprays to prevent resistance.

If dry, watering of established roses in the borders is not essential, but will improve performance, best time to water is early morning avoiding the leaves and splash back onto the foliage as wet leaves encourage diseases to spread.

Roses in Patio Pots or other containers should still be watered regularly during dry weather.

POWDERY MILDEW
At this time of year, Powdery Mildew is often triggered in some varieties brought on by hot and humid conditions a powdery white residue can be seen on new leaf growth and although sometimes unsightly and difficult to control, it will not actually do any harm to the rose and following the above spraying recommendations and colder wetter weather will help the problem disappear. Uncle Tom’s Tonic and SULPHUR ROSE is strongly recommended as a foliar spray. to help combat the problem, planting in an open, exposed airy position will also help greatly with this problem.

 

NOVEMBER

This is the ideal month to order and plant your bare-root roses, we are now busy lifting and sending out orders already placed with us in advance, and there is still plenty of time as we write in early November for you to still place and receive your order within 2-3 weeks’ time (subject to weather) if you are not specifying delivery on a specific date, We anticipate on catching up on the backlog of summer and autumn orders by the end of November, subject of course to the great British weather!

The recommended planting times for bare-root bush roses is from November to late March, Bare-root Standard roses can also be supplied mail order at this time of year and we strongly recommend that you initially pot up your Standards into a 10lt pot using John Innes no 3 compost and plant into its final position in the spring once fully rooted and in full leaf, if the weather turns severely cold during the winter whilst in pots move them into a cold greenhouse or a cool building and place them back outside once milder weather returns.

So why not take advantage of the dark winter evenings and have a slow peruse through our website where you will find the best pictures, nearly all photographed in our fields, to make your selections or order a free colour catalogue by clicking on the catalogue request button.

If you are thinking of giving a bush rose as a gift for a special occasion or Christmas, we can also send them out in pots, making them easy to deal with once received and can be simply left in these pots outdoors, always keeping the specially formulated rose compost moist until spring before planting into it’s final position. We also offer an optional gift wrap and card service for all rose orders.

Roses in the Garden (U.K)

New Roses
Prepare the ground well for any new bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information. Rootgrow will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched.

Established Roses
Roses will now have their final blooms on, once flowered, lightly prune the stems to tidy up and help avoid any possible damage from strong winds. Check and tie in growth on climbing roses to avoid wind damage over the winter, renew old tying-in soft string with new. Clear up any old rose leaves on the ground and burn, bin or dispose of at the local tip. Stop feeding or spraying. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS and GLOVES.

Standard Roses: As above and check your wooden stakes at the base to make sure they are still strong and will cope with winter weather, also consider wrapping stems in pipe foam or hessian sacking to protect from severe winter weather.

Dispose of all your pruning waste on a bonfire if allowed in your area or your local tip, for roses showing problems with blackspot this is also a good time to clean up the soil and plants by killing overwintering disease spores. We recommend using Sulphur Rose. This attacks blackspot spores giving fast and effective control as s preventative or cure for problems. Apply as a winter drench (30g per 4.5lts) to control or kill off Black spot and rose disease spores in the soil which in turn will prevent re-infection to Rose Plants from soil borne spores. Spray up to every 2 weeks during active growth, non-resistant so can be used regularly on roses. Manufactured by Greenacres Direct.

 

DECEMBER

This is another ideal month to order and plant your bare-root roses, we are now busy lifting and sending out orders and are currently dispatching orders 1-2 days from when ordered if needed a.s.a.p, once received bare-root roses can be safely stored somewhere cool and draft free (e.g garden shed or garage) in the original packaging for 3 – 4 weeks, at this time of the year before needing to do anything or also could be ‘healed in’ to a temporary hole in the garden if you are not able to plant the roses in their final position straight away.

The recommended planting times for bare-root roses is from November to late March, so take advantage of the dark winter evenings and have a slow peruse through our website where you will find the best pictures, nearly all photographed in our fields, to make your selections or order a free colour catalogue by clicking on the catalogue request button.

If you are thinking of giving a bush rose as a gift for a special occasion or Christmas, we can also send them out in pots throughout the year, making them easy to deal with once received and can be simply left in these pots outdoors, always keeping the specially formulated rose compost moist until spring once in full leaf and fully rooted before planting into its final position. We also offer an optional gift wrap and card service with your own special message for all rose orders which can also be sent directly to the recipient address if needed.

Roses in the Garden (U.K)

New Roses
Subject to the weather becoming mild and the ground frost and snow free in the daytime, prepare the ground well for any new bare-root roses you are planning to plant by ideally digging out the hole ready a few weeks before and adding plenty of well-rotted manure or compost into the bottom of the whole and forking in well, you can now plant roses where there were roses planted before by adding some mycorrhizal ‘ROOTGROW‘ into the base of the hole and ensuring that the rose roots come into contact with the friendly fungi, see the ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ to order and for more information. ‘Rootgrow’ will benefit all newly planted roses. Full planting and aftercare instructions are supplied with all our roses when dispatched

Established Roses
Bush, Climbing and Shrub roses: For Midlands and South of England, this is the best month to do your main pruning of your roses providing the weather is mild, recent milder winters due to global warming mean by March (The traditional time for pruning) your roses in these areas will already have long shoots on them and pruning these off in March will delay flowering by a month or more, so do it now! For areas north of the Midlands just lightly prune for now to look tidy if mild. See our ‘Essential Rose Aftercare’ page for FELCO SECATEURS and GLOVES.

DELAY YOUR MAIN PRUNING IF THE WEATHER IS VERY FROSTY, UNTIL MILDER WEATHER RETURNS

Pruning for Midlands and South of England (December, Weather permitting)

H.T and Floribunda Bushes: Cut main stems down to around 30cm/12″ to just above an outward facing leaf, completely remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dyeing back.

Patio Bush Roses: Prune back to around 15cm/6″ also remove any weak growth, brown or black stems which are dying back.

Large Flowering Climbers: Re-tie and train in main shoots to fence or structure, any ugly long tall shoots that cannot be trained can be removed from where they started shooting from, all side shoots coming from your main stems should be cut back to around 3″ from where they shoot from the mains stems.

Ramblers and Patio Climbers: Lightly prune to shape and tie in any loose or floppy growth.

Ground Cover Roses and Weeping Standards: Prune to Shape

Standard Roses: H.T, Floribunda and Patio. Prune main shoots at the top of the stem back to the heights listed above again also removing any weak or dead growth, check your wooden stakes for rot and replace with a pressure treated 1.5″ square x 4/5ft wooden stake if needed.

Dispose of all your pruning waste on a bonfire if allowed in your area or your local tip, for roses showing problems with blackspot this is also a good time to clean up the soil and plants by killing overwintering disease spores. We recommend using Sulphur Rose. This attacks blackspot spores giving fast and effective control as s preventative or cure for problems. Apply as a winter drench (30g per 4.5lts) to control or kill off Black spot and rose disease spores in the soil which in turn will prevent re-infection to Rose Plants from soil borne spores. Spray up to every 2 weeks during active growth, non-resistant so can be used regularly on roses. Manufactured by Greenacres Direct.