General Chat

I would really welcome some advice. I have a small rose tree (patio Rose) on my balcony which has done well over the past two years. I pruned it in the winter and fed it with rose food at the beginning of march. However it dosen't look good. The branches are green at the bottom end, but not spreading to the rest. It was looking like some shoots were leafing, but seem to be dying off as they come out. I am frightened to prune again as it will take it back again. Please help me if you can. My husband who died last year bought me this tree, I will be so upset if anything happened to it. Many thanks Lynda

Hi Linda ,i grew roses a few years ago and may be able to help. Firstly prune off all the dead wood now. This pruning should be done in November or march to april ,not in winter cut on a slant so that your lying rainwater runs off, and dosn,t soak in ,dont be afraid to prune hard . You may even have the start of some disease but a good systemic spray should sort it for you.the green at the bottom of the stems shows growth is still in progress so it should recover. Best of luck ,Denis Tfn Newcastle.Ps dont feed a rose until the flower buds start to form,or the plant tends to grow too quickly.

Hi Lynda, Just spoke to mum and she said that there are a number of things that it could be. First thing to check is that there are no vine weevels, tip the rose out of the pot and check that there are no little white maggot type things in there, If there is then you must take all the soil off of the roots and put it in fresh. another thing it could be is die back, this is caused by a fungal infection, you can buy some spray to treat it and it will not hurt the rose if there is no infection. If you still have no luck get back to me and I will get mum to list some more possibilities. Sue

Dennis & Suzanne Thanks so much for your help. I think I have to prune back to the green wood. I was just afraid that it was too late, but the tree seems to bud quite late anway, fingers crossed!! At least the fact the lower wood is green means it is still ok. Lynda

not too late at all ,so go for it. One reason for the buds dying is that they are trying to grow from dying wood and can,t get the nutrients needed,having pruned ,all new growth should be fine. the other suggestion should be checked too ,i never had that problem but my roses were all in beds,yours in a pot could have been infected with weevil, it should be okay to lift if you are careful, Denis.

Dennis Thanks again! Iv'e been and done it, just come back inside. Have taken stems back to the green. Hopefully there is no disease as the one stem which is green all the way up does have some foliage, which seems ok. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!!! Cheers Lynda

Hi Lynda, I've just been pruning mine & tying back the climbing ones too. I've noticed a lot of black spot on them this year. The foliage gets round browny/black areas on it, goes yellow & drops off. If you notice any, take the affected leaves off and pick up any that have fallen to the ground. Then get a systemic fungicide like Multirose & give them a good spray - this stuff kills greenfly too. I'd also dig a little bone meal in around the base of the plant and mulch up with compost or manure. Rick.

Hi Rick Many thanks for your advice. I shall keep a close eye on it. I have another Rose tree which I bought at a boot sale. Of course (it's not so important to me ) that's fine stem wise, but noticed leaves with black spot, I did take them off and gave it a spray. I'll try the bone meal. Thanks again Lynda

Lynda When you tip the rose out to look for vine weevil, have a look at the root system. If it seems too crowded and the roots are circling the pot, it needs to be in a bigger pot. Choose one that will allow up to an extra ½ to 1 inch all the way round (no bigger). Place the old pot inside the new one and fill up the space between the two with new compost and lightly firm down, then remove the old pot, The root ball should then fit snugly into the hole. If it is vine weevil, it may be easier to get a vine-weevil-killer preparation (no other insecticide will work) from a garden centre and water it on - not such a shock for the plant. Be quick though. Len

lynda ,morning . I had an idea last night that might appeal to you . Wht don,t you take a few cuttings off the pot rose when it,s recovered?. I don,t know how it,s done apart from using a large pot, a few cuttings ,and a bit of polythene, i,d bet my boots that Len will know how, he sounds the gardener type i once was.Hope you realise youv,e started me off on gardening again ,even if it,s only pots in the back ,or i could find myself a little greenh------------. Denis.

Whenever I prune my roses I take some 6 to 9 inch lengths of stem and simply stick them in the ground, ensuring that more stem is below ground than above. I take off all the leaves other than the top two and hope for the best. I expect if I used rooting powder or went more 'by the book' the success rate would be higher or faster, but I'm happy with what I get. I've done this over the years with most of the shrubs in my garden. We have tended to move house every 5 years or so and rather than leave all the gardens too depleted, or have to leave "special" plants behind, I have continued to take cuttings to ensure that I have plenty of plants to take with me to any new garden. Our last 2 moves, 18 months and 6 years ago, saw me shifting about 500 pots of cuttings in various stages of development from barely rooted to 3ft high successes. Sue

Hi Dennis, Len & Sue Thanks so much for your replys. I will definately take a cutting later, it's a beautiful Rose. Sorry Dennis if the bug has bitten you again, but if you enjoy it what the heck!! Len, thanfully I don't think there is anything amiss with the tree itself, and it is in an enormous pot. I really now think that I probably had not cut it far back enough in the winter. Hopefully it will be ok now, and once we get plenty of sun that should make it happier. Thank you to everyone for your replys. You really are a great bunch of folks!!! Cheers Lynda x

Lynda Sue has got the right idea. A good method is to stick a spade down about ten inches into the ground (in a place where it won't be disturbed for a couple of years) waggle it back and forth and plant the cuttings in the slot. Then fill the slot with very gritty compost firming down well and water to settle the soil round the stems. Allow a couple of inches between each. Roses thrive on pruning. Was it outside ? If so, the topmost twigs die back from frost damage and it is a good idea to prune it about now, after the likelyhood of hard frost is past. Len

Len, you beat me to it. I was just about to suggest that the leaf buds dying off is often due to frost. Sue

Hi Len & Sue Yes it has been outside on the balcony. I had pruned it about November, and thought I had done enough. Dennis convinced me that it would be fine to give it another now to get rid of the dead wood. I have done that so only the green of the branches are showing. (sorry not into gardening tech) I realise that it will be a while before they grow back to the height they were, but I reckoned with plenty of sun they would get back, and If I remember it was not an early bloomer. Thanks again for the tips on the cuttings, I have copied this thread into a word doc so I will have it to follow. Lynda

Lynda I'm sure all the old books I used to read in days gone by suggested a light pruning in November and a good one in the spring. I think that's what Mum used to do and her roses were always perfect!! Under normal circumstances pruning isn't going to kill a plant. You can cut most plants back at any time of the year - it's just that some times are more preferable than others. The main problem is that pruning encourages new shoots to form, and if the frost catches them it can cause die back. Have you got garden, or just the balcony? Sue

Sue No garden, just a balcony. I don't think we had too much frost here during the winter,but I do realise now that I could have cut the tree back a bit more than I did, guess I was a bit scared. I think now though it should be ok, and thanks to all on here, come winter I shall be a lot braver with the pruning. Cheers Lynda

Lynda Good luck, then! Glad to be of help. Try filling a fairly deep pot with several cuttings, just keep the compost moist and reasonably shady. You can always put some bedding plants or herbs in the pot and ignore the cuttings. You might be pleasantly surprised in a year or so's time to find they're shooting. Sue

Thanks Sue Goodnight Lynda