Hello everyone. I would really appreciate your feedback on my three rose bushes. I am sure I have not taken good care of them the past several years but would like to remedy that this year. I don't know quite how to do that though. Weekend before last, I dug in compost, manure (bagged) and peat, and fed with Rosetone. Last weekend mulched them all and they have had nice rain. What else? Here are my roses: #1. This one is more than 50 years old. It is original to this house. The branches are tied loosely to the fence. Some years it has been bushier at the bottom but I lost some branches that a vine strangled in the Fall. Other than the sparse growth at the bottom, the rest of the foliage looks OK. It gets covered in dark burgundy open blossoms that smell wonderful. #2. This one is about 48 years old. My mom always called it American Beauty (?). It has only had one kind of sad bloom the past few years (hot pink and frangrant, large upright petals). I don't know if you can see, but there is a new shoot coming from the bottom. Do I need to trim the top? #3: I planted this one about 5 years ago. I thought it was a climbing rose but it has not climbed. You can see where it has lost branches in the middle of the plant. I'm not sure why. A pest? It is a constant battle to keep the vines from my neighbor's yard from grabbing it. I'm not sure it is happy here but I dread trying to move it.... Yellow ruffled blooms. Thank you for your expertise!! Daisybeans
i dont know much about roses but i believe i have had sucess with mine due to the type i have which is pretty hardy. One thing i did learn from this older asian lady who runs this lil garden center i go to is that roses like to drink some water. How much and how frequent im not sure but im guessing water them deep and dont let them get too dry. Maybe you could plant a small variety at the base of the top heavy one so it looks more overall full and im sure it will like the company..
Pruning does help roses bush out. Just clip across the top in a nice curve and it will branch out from the bottoms. Some climbers don't get really big. I tie mine up and feed early in spring and then again in july. They seem to like occ spraying with Miracle Grow. Wow, I can't believe those plants are that old. My mom had American Beauties too. They are gorgeous roses.
GN and GG, thanks. When you say prune across the top, GG, which bush are you talking about? The climber? Yeah, I was kind of shocked myself when I realized how old they are... 'cuz it means I'm that old too! I wonder if roses and other shrubs have a specific life span? I should find that out because most of the foundation shrubs here are between 35 and 50 years old.
