We stock a fantastic range of roses including, patio roses, climbing and rambling roses and bush roses.
We use local growers and national growers including Whartons and David Austin Roses.
Choose a rose for colour, style or scent, they always look stunning in the garden!
The best time for planting roses is in the Autumn and we normally have a good selection from mid October. if you would like to choose a rose in bud or flower then visit the garden centre in June & July for a lovely array of blooming roses.
We stock all the main favourites and a complete range of special occasion roses including Anniversary, Birthday, Retirement, Remembrance and Wedding.
Roses will grow in any soil, however they will perform better in a sandy soil. If you have clay soil, it is best to dig it over and then break it up with a good quality compost or well-rotted farmyard manure. Mix it thoroughly. Roses like a sunny position, so choose a site that gets at least 50% of the day in the sun. If you are replacing old roses with new roses remove as much of the old soil as possible and replace with soil that hasn’t grown roses before (the old soil will grow anything else apart from roses). Dig in Rootgrow when planting, it is a natural product called mycorrhizal fungi that promotes stronger, healthier and faster root growth. This in turn will allow better feeding, more resistance to pest and diseases and better drought tolerance.
Roses that are container grown can be planted at any time of year as long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged. Dig a hole that is slightly bigger than the pot it came in and place a handful of bone meal at the bottom of the hole, mixing in with the soil. Water the rose in it's pot thoroughly before planting. Remove from its pot and place the rose in the ground and backfill with soil that has been enriched with good quality compost, manure or a rose and shrub compost.
Make sure the graft of the rose (the knot that connects the bush part to the roots) is at, or slightly above soil level. Water well.
Pruning is probably the part of rose growing that most people fell daunted by. It’s fairly easy to do, the rule of thumb is there should be a spring prune and an autumn prune. Bush roses (patio, floribunda, shrub and hybrid teas) spring prune should be prune out 1/3 of the original size in a frost-free period from mid-February to mid-March. Prune out any weak, weedy, damaged, dead or diseased growth. In the autumn, roses can be trimmed back after they finish flowering in November to stop wind-rock and root damage.
As for the pruning itself, use a pair of clean, sharp secateurs and always cut the stem above an outward face bud. Make the cut at a 45 degree and sloping away from the centre of the plant. This will ensure that any rain water will run off the stem onto the ground instead of the crown of the plant. Try to keep all of the growth on the edge of the bush keeping the centre clear. Aim for a goblet shape. This will allow plenty of light and air to flow through the centre of the plant, which will reduce pest and diseases.
Climbing and rambling roses are great for growing a wall or fence. They make a beautiful backdrop and help to cover unsightly boundaries. They are perform at their best when trained to grow horizontally (fanned out). To achieve this, stretch wires out along the wall/fence attach to vine eyes or nails, and bend the rose branches along the wire, attaching it to the wire with string or twine. The first wire should be around 60cm (2’) above soil level and further wires at 45cm (18”) intervals.
When the rose starts to grow, the stems trained horizontally will throw up vertical stems. Use the strongest vertical stems arising from the base and /or the middle of the plant to train along higher wires to create another tier if required. Prune the remaining vertical stems to 1cm or above the nearest bud from the horizontal stem during September and October. By following this, you will avoid an unsightly tall plant with a few flowers at the top and nothing below. The rose should produce flowers from the base to the tip in abundance.
As a general rule, use climbers on walls, fences, pillars and pergolas. Ramblers will grow into hedges, trees over large arches and may also be used on pillars and pergolas. Climbers tend to repeat flower, whereas ramblers tend to flower once.
To get the best from your roses they need to be fed at regular intervals.
A clay soil will need the addition of fertiliser twice a year, in March (after pruning) and after the first flush of flowers is over (usually June/July). The best fertilisers to use are Toprose, Fish, blood and Bone, Growmore or Chicken Manure Pellets.
A sandy or chalky soil will need feeding monthly from March to end-July – a small handful of fertiliser will suffice.
A water soluble fertiliser can also be applied fortnightly such as Miraclegro or Phostrogen. This will increase the vigour of the plants and in turn result in an abundance of flowers.
Mulching is a good practice; garden compost, or well-rotted manure will keep the moisture in the ground, help feed the rose and keep weeds down. This can be done in the autumn or spring. Be generous with a mulch, it is most effective when laid to a depth of 5cm (2”).
Roses will tolerate a dry soil but will perform best in a moist soil.
If the ground is dry, water well occasionally. Little and often watering is best avoided. This will encourage small feeder roots to grow at the surface of the soil and be in danger of scorching or drying out more frequently. Giving your roses a deluge watering (lots of water) once a week if more beneficial. It encouraged the roots to grow deeper and search for water. Rose growers find watering in the morning or keeping the leaves dry reduces incidence of disease. A good rule of thumb is send them to bed dry, wake them up with a drink.
Every well-seasoned gardener has their own opinion and theories of keeping pest and diseases off their roses, and what works for one person may not work well for another, but if you follow a few basic rules, you can at least keep them at bay.
Firstly, choose a variety that has good pest and disease resistance. There are numerous varieties now that boast good health and robustness, so feel free to ask in store and we will happily point you in the right direction. Secondly keep up good husbandry, keep your roses clean, clear any weeds, fallen leaves, or debris from the base of the rose and deadhead regularly. Thirdly, try companion planting, garlic, marigolds and lavender are all reported to keep away aphids, blackfly and whitefly. They dislike the smell they emit and lastly spray your roses once a month with Roseclear from April until August. These four tips should keep your roses in tip top condition.
Always use John Innes No. 3 – roses dislike multipurpose compost. Use a slow release fertiliser, and liquid feed from March until September. Choose a pot that is at least three times the size that the rose is growing in. Ideally choose a patio rose, which are specifically breed to grow in pots, or varieties that do not exceed 90cm (3’) in height. Place the pot in a sunny spot and water well.
These shouldn’t be a problem but if you see any shoot coming from the base of the plant which has light green leaves and green stems with a few thorns it could be a sucker. Do not cut it off, pull it off as deep as you can (with good gloves). If coming from underground, dig the soil away and pull it off.
If you follow these guidelines, you’ll have roses that will flower for up to five months of the year with the minimum of attention.