Care of roses in late winter

Get to work with some stinky manure

- Ruth Hayes

OUR roses had a great year in 2022 and flowered almost right through the winter – a ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ flowering three times, the last in November.

This week I’ve been giving them some late-winter love, getting them ready for when they start to grow again in spring, although some new growth buds are already starting to swell.

They don’t need much, just some simple care to tide them over until the growing season starts properly.

Cut back the stems of shrub roses by a third to protect them from late winter storms, then weed around them.

While you are busy in the soil, collect and dispose of fallen leaves that show signs of black spot. This is a serious but very common fungal disease that weakens roses and can completely defoliate them in extreme cases.

It appears in spring, but persists as long as affected leaves remain on the plants. Symptoms include black leaf blotches that spread and turn yellow, before the leaves drop.