Dame Deborah James

• When pruning, make sure that your secateurs are clean and sharp to prevent squashing stems and introducing disease.
• Add mycorrhizal fungi to the roots when planting to help the plant establish quicker.

Planting Advice:

• Roses can be planted at any time of the year, as long as the soil is not frozen, waterlogged or drought dry.
• Plant your rose where it can get plenty of sun for at least half of the day, and where it will be sheltered from the wind.
• Add plenty of well-rotted manure into the hole and plant so that the graft union (the swollen are when the stems meet the roots) is just below soil level.
• Add mycorrhizal fungi to the roots when planting to help the plant establish quicker.

Aftercare Advice:

• Water well every other day - daily if the weather is hot and dry.
• Established roses can be watered around once a week through spring and summer - more if the weather is hot.
• For best results, feed roses in in late-March/April and again late July.
• To prune, just remove any dead, dying, damaged and diseased stems and also deadhead regularly. Traditionally, you would cut just above a leaf joint with a sloping cut away from the bud, however, this isn't necessary, and don't worry about pruning too much - roses are very resilient and will grow back.