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Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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Posted by SlugPelletUK Southern UK (My Page) on Wed, Jul 13, 05 at 6:39
| I have a bed of ten lovely floribunda roses, at least they were once lovely, they are now about 15 years old, and produce thin and weak growth every summer, plus a reasonable amount of blooms, but maybe 25% of what they produced five years ago. Are they just past it now? Is there anything I can do to revitalise them, or should I just dig them up and start afresh? Every autumn I prune them back hard to about 1ft high and I mulch them in spring with well rotted horse manure, but the effect is the same, they seem to be getting more feeble every year. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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| Every living thing has a lifespan but 15 years for a rose is nothing. The mulch with manure is good but needs to be 2-3 inches thick to do any good. Regular watering is also required during these hot spells. Manure is not enough! Supplemental applications of fertilizers should also be applied. Bonemeal in the winter, faster-acting feeds during the growing season. While insect pests are more of a nuisance than threatening, diseases such as black spot and fungal root infections may take their toll. In the latter cases, planting new roses in the same position may not be such a good idea. Moriati |
RE: Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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| I agree. The roses that came with my house are probably more than 20 years old and get better every year. I'm far from an expert on roses, but I provide lots of home-made compost (manure is even better) plus fertiliser when they start to grow in spring and again when they flower. My soil isn't really heavy enough for roses but they love the food. |
RE: Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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| Yes, I agree with messages so far. I have some really old climbing roses and also bush roses and they have been really good this summer. In addition to the bonemeal, I also sprinkle around some Toprose which is supposed to help against black spot. I read somewhere that the average life span of a rose is 35 years plus - so a good investment. Also, if you have heavy London clay, roses are the best plants to go for. |
RE: Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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| I recently rejuvenated a bed of roses that had become very thin in their growth and for the most part blind simply by digging up each rose and replanting in exactly the same spot, only deeper. Over the years the plants had all lifted to quite a degree. And as others have mentioned modern roses particularly do need feeding, you can get away with ignoring gallicas and the like, but it's best to think of modern roses as having been bred to be fed, and unfortunately in many cases they've been bred to be sprayed. |
RE: Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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| In addition to everything that's been said I'm not sure that hard pruning floribundas every year is such a good idea. My rose book says moderate pruning for established floribundas is the best method for general garden display. |
RE: Do ordinary garden roses have a life span?
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| Thanks for all those replys. I will give them one more chance, increase the amount of feed, and perhaps not prune so enthusiastically this autumn! |
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