gardening Nov:Layout 1
22/10/13
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CITYgardening
MULCH ADO ABOUT PRUNING Get the garden straight for winter with a timely pruning session that will leave you with a virtuous rosy glow, says Jane Moore
R
ose and clematis are the two pruning jobs that are guaranteed to get many gardeners scratching their heads in befuddlement. You can happily forget about clematis for a few more months as they’re not due for pruning until February. But get your rose pruning out of the way before winter sets in and not only will the garden look nice and tidy but you’ll feel that rosy glow of virtue for doing a serious bit of gardening in November.
a third and smaller, neater shrubs like Gertrude Jekyll or Charlotte by about a quarter. Not quite enough, you may think, but it’s enough to stop them flailing about in the wind. Come spring I can whizz around and take a bit more off, cutting back to a nice healthy sprouting bud in March or April next year.
A cut above Always make sure your secateurs, loppers and pruning saw are nice and sharp before you start. Start by removing any dead, damaged or diseased parts of the plant. There are nearly always some stems that have died back and these should be cut back to the base or to the healthy part of the stem. Make your cut clean and tidy and cut to just above an outward facing bud. Some say make the cut sloping away from the bud but I usually cut the stems flat without suffering any problems.
Shrub roses Look at the books and they will tell you that this is a job for the spring which it is and it isn’t. Confused? Me too, but all I can do is tell you what works for me. Years of windblown, rocked and almost uprooted roses has taught me that a thorough prune in autumn is so worthwhile. It has definitely saved several of my roses from premature death and others from looking decidedly dog eared. Here in the relatively balmy south I feel we can get away with it – if I move to the Ridings of Yorkshire I may have to reconsider my strategy. I follow all the usual criteria – removing dead, diseased and damaged wood first. Then any crossing stems are tackled until I end up with a nice open, goblet-shaped shrub. Finally I reduce the height of the stems, taking the larger, vigorous varieties such as Falstaff down by about 88 THEBATHMAGAZINE
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NOVEMBER 2013
Climbers This is the main November job and is the one that most people shy away from. Keep in mind that you’re aiming for a nice even fan-shaped plant once you’ve finished and you won’t go far wrong. Start in the usual way – removing any dead, diseased and dying branches. Next tie in any new shoots and renew ties on older branches so that they’re well spaced and fanned out from the base. If you have plenty of new shoots, you can cut out any really old branches that are past their best as this will encourage new shoots next year. Finally prune back side shoots and branches growing from the main framework to two or three buds, trimming off completely any that are weedy and growing against the wall or fence.
Ramblers These really shouldn’t need too much pruning except to keep them within bounds and keep them healthy. If the plant is getting out of hand, you can chop back a few of the old woody
branches to the base to stimulate new shoots which can be tied in as they grow. Roses in this group include Albertine (pictured inset), Félicité Perpétue (pictured above) and The Garland.
Planting November is a great time to plant roses – either bare root plants or containerised ones. It’s open to argument which is the best – I’ve had some marvellous bare root plants that are way bigger and with more root than their potted cousins but I’ve also had some seriously ropey plants from a supplier who should know better. My general rule of thumb is to plant bare root in autumn and opt for nicely grown containerised plants in spring. When planting make sure it’s a nice big, deep hole which is back-filled with compost and/or well rotted manure mixed with a generous scoop of bone meal. Roses are greedy blighters and will love you if you get them off to a good start. Prune back any wildly unkempt roots and spread the roots in the hole, covering them with a layer of soil/compost/manure mix and firming in with a boot. Repeat until the hole is filled, making sure you get the ‘graft union’ or knobbly crown just beneath soil level. Now wait for spring.
And finally… Once the pruning and planting is done, finish off with a nice top dressing mulch of something. I like to use our own garden compost, freshly dug out from the heap, as it looks great and will be drawn down into the soil gradually through the winter months. You can use bark chips, wellrotted manure or even potting compost but a nice mulch finishes the job properly. ■ Suppliers: David Austin Roses,Wolverhampton. Tel: 01902 376300. www.davidaustinroses.com. Peter Beales Roses, Attleborough, Norfolk. Tel: 01953 454707. www.classicroses.co.uk. Jane Moore is the award-winning head gardener at the Bath Priory Hotel. Follow her on Twitter @janethegardener.