• Roses should be deadheaded regularly to encourage more flowers.
• Water roses well, three to four times a week.
• Don’t grow other plants or ground covers between the roses; then they don’t have to compete for nutrients in the soil. By weeding regularly, we keep our rose beds neat and tidy – and weed-free.
• Start pruning in mid to late June.
• In early September, give each rose a handful of organic fertiliser and a week thereafter a mulch of pine needles and decomposing oak leaves.
• Don’t give the roses a summer pruning but do pick blooms often and deadhead regularly – it’s as good as a light pruning.
• The only time necessary to spray roses is if the leaves get wet at night and might be infected with powdery mildew or black spot; you can use Chronos for this.
• Roses are not difficult to grow and maintain. With a little love and attention, they actually thrive anywhere.

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