THIS MONTH…

• PRUNE April is a good time to look carefully at our roses. Some will have stopped flowering, others will flower merrily on into winter. If a bush has untidy or diseased canes, a bit of autumn pruning is a good idea and will make the real job easier in winter.

• FEED I don’t feed my roses to encourage flowering after the end of February but I do give them potash in autumn to ensure that next spring they will have strong canes and good flower colour. Give each 2 tablespoons, forked in around the dripline and watered in generously. It’s not expensive and garden centres have small bags if you have just a few roses.