For many of us, the flowers of the summer are roses. If anyone is going to know a thing or two about growing prolific and abundant roses, it’s Alan Titchmarsh, who has shared a top tip to help your roses reach ‘maximum flowering.’
Growing roses successfully requires attention and care. Fragrant, romantic, and bringing glorious colour, they are a cherished classic, and pruning them carefully is key.
Sharing advice with his social media followers, Alan reveals that rose shrubs require pruning to reach full potential, but you need to be able to spot the difference between dead stems and old stems when you start this summer task.
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Advising how to distinguish between dead and old wood, Alan says, ‘dead has no living wood on it at all. A lot of older stems have green, young ones coming out the top.’ If you scratch the bark slightly and see green underneath, it’s alive; if the stem is brown, it is dead. Use sharp secateurs and cut at a 45-degree angle. If a rose shrub has too many stems, you can opt to remove both dead and old stems, as when old stems are congested, they stop growing and can be removed and therefore removing some of the old stems will rejuvenate the plant. February to March is the best time for heavy pruning once the worst frosts tend to be over.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Alan did caution that pruning shrub roses follows different rules, and he advises us not to cut them down to knee height, which is preferable for bush roses: ‘These [shrub roses] tend to be taller, so you tip them back and thin the framework out. I have created a well-spaced branch framework, which allows a through flow of air. Mildew and blackspot will be less likely because of the air circulation.’
This expert approach to pruning should result in healthy, strong stems. Then, it’s time to feed using a fertiliser that features blood, fish and bone, to aid your roses in being ‘set up for the summer.’
Another piece of wisdom he shared is not to rush the rose pruning process. ‘Step back every few cuts and look at the overall shape. Your eye will tell you where it’s still too crowded before your brain does.’ Such considerations are sure to result in a stellar spring display of these charming flowers.
Before you start following Alan’s pruning advice, ensure you have all the essentials needed for success.
This is precisely what Tichmarsh recommends gardeners use for prolific blooms, and at £34.99 for the whole 25kg box (50Kg/1000m2), it’s modestly priced, too.
Secateurs are a very personal thing, but we love these from Niwaki. A timeless investment that will serve you well for decades.
These gauntlet-style gloves have very long sleeves and are made from goatskin leather with added padding on the palm and the gauntlet. The palm and thumb cover are made of composite Tough-Ex material to prevent injury from rose thorns.
Be equipped with your best heavy-duty gardening gloves to avoid any splinters, and of course, you will need some Mycorrhizal Fungi if you are going to have truly spellbinding roses this summer. I recommend this rootgrow available at Amazon, which contains millions of natural beneficial fungi to protect rose roots from disease and is RHS approved.
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