roses

[Min1]

I have several roses that are in very poor weak condition, any idea's on how to improve them, marion

[WendyS]

If the plants are very old, they might have outlived their usefulness in which case it's better to dig them out and start again with fresh plants somewhere else as the soil could be harbouring diseases. If not, you could try pruning them hard back and forking plenty of old manure around the base, or a general purpose fertiliser.

[logman]

The poor weak condition you describe is possibly due to lack of nutrients. A good way to improve them is to give them a generous helping of fertiliser, the one i would recomend is, blood, fish, and bone meal, which can be purchased from any good garden centres. this should be applied when all signs of frost has passed and the plants are activly growing, the 2nd half of march should be okay, followed by a hard prune back at the begining of april, this should rejuvinate them.

Try to avoid loosening the soil around the roots, this will cause "wind rock" which can weaken the plants and is a common condition especially with older plants.

Out of interest, the oldest Rose in England is reported to have been planted in 1851 and as far as i know is still flourishing in st Marks Parish church at stapleford in sussex.

Ps the fertiliser mentioned is normaly available in lidded plastic bucets. Good Luck..

[Min1]

Thankyou you very much for the advise which i will follow from Min x