“Here’s how to care for your roses in the autumn,” says Ruth
The dormant months are ideal for nurturing and planting, says Ruth and national rose expert Kerry Austen
ROSES are some of the most beloved plants in our gardens, and as the summer draws to a close we enter one of the key times for looking after them.
Many roses will still be flowering, and will keep doing so until well into the autumn, but we should start thinking about the attention they need at the end of the flowering season, which can leave them diseaseridden and exhausted.
For all their popularity, roses are prone to problems, and by this time of the year they may be looking rather sorry for themselves. Taking action now helps prepare them for winter and strengthens them to perform well next year.
Kerry Austen, former head gardener at the Royal National Rose Society and now the international rose trials coordinator at leading UK plant suppliers Rochfords, has some specialcare tips to help AG readers see their roses through autumn and winter.
Kerry says: “Understanding the diseases and how they overwinter helps us with the fight to reduce the amount of damage they can cause. “Diseases like blackspot, rust and mildew are very common throughout the UK and are the subject of many questions on gardening websites and programmes.” Kerry explains that blackspot spores develop under the skin of the rose, then burst open to release themselves onto the soil. They are then splashed back onto the rose when plants are watered or it rains.
Blackspot starts from the base of the plant and works up, so removing the bottom infected leaves can help reduce the amount of infection.
Once the tissues have turned black, they are dead and no amount of spraying will bring them back.
Kerry adds: “Blackspot overwinters in old infected fallen leaves, on the soil and within the stems, so cleanliness in the autumn is so important.”
She recommends removing all spent leaves and blooms from the ground surrounding your rose.
Rust is another very common disease that will eventually kill the host plant and possibly spread to others.
The fungal tissue overwinters in the soil around the rose’s base and in old fallen leaves, and it likes to hide in and around support structures such as fences and climbing supports.
As with blackspot, remove all infected leaves and destroy – do not add these to your compost. Mulch heavily in spring after pruning to help bury the spores and keep them off your plants.
Healthy soil and good ventilation around the roses will help keep them free of disease, while feeding and careful monitoring during the growing season helps keep them robust and able to survive pest attacks.