Expert Insight
KNOW -HOW
Pruning your roses gives you a great opportunity to get closer to them. Watch how your shrub has developed over the past season and tidy weeds and debris from the base. Create an open, well-ventilated centre, to keep the risk of fungal diseases low. Remove all dead and weak growth. No branches should touch each other. In established roses, reduce the overall height by one third. Always prune back to an outward-facing bud. Markus Radscheit, garden manager at the University Botanic Gardens in Bonn, Germany, and founder of HortiTours, specialising in garden holidays I always grow roses among other herbaceous plants and so prune a little higher than normal at a minimum of 30cm (12in) so that the resulting fflowering stems overtop the herbaceous perennials that infill beneath. I also thin out wispy stems to leave the strongest growths that don’t flop. Ian Hodgson, editor-at-large I start off by taking out dead, damaged and diseased plant material, as this makes it easier to look at the structure of bush roses. The harder you prune, the stronger the plant will grow, so I always cut back weak growth more severely than vigorous stems, to encourage a nice balanced framework. Tonia Friedrich, garden writer Always think about how you want your climbing rose to grow and prune just above a bud that’s pointing in the direction you want. It’s easy when pruning to get carried away, but you need extra care with climbers! Simon Caney, editor If your rose develops the fungal disease black spot this spring, you’ll be able to prune out the black stem scabs now to get a handle on it before leaves regrow fully. In leaf, you’ll recognise the disease by blotchy black spots on foliage. Fungus sprays by Bayer or Scotts may also work for you. Karen Murphy, features editor