Mid-Summer Rose Care
Dead-heading
For repeat flowering roses, follow the stem down a set of 5 leaves and cut above the leaf joint. This is where your new flowering shoot will come from. Often there will be new growth already coming, in which case cut above the growth and allow it to grow, form buds and flower.
Feeding
Feeding with a proper “Rose Food” is essential for healthy, disease free growth and flowering. You should be feeding your roses after every flush of flowers, so if you have just dead headed you roses, feed them now with a liquid or granular rose food.
Blackspot and Other Diseases
Are your roses suffering from Black spot, Mildew or other diseases at the moment? Here is our recommendation for suffering plants:
Step 1:
Remove all diseased leaves from the plant, this may leave the plant looking very bare indeed but it is not a problem, the following steps will help to bring it back.
Step 2:
Cut the plant back. A bit of summer pruning will do the plant absolutely no harm at all, if anything it will encourage the plant to grow and flower more. Use a good pair of secateurs to trim the plant back by about a third all over. Try to cut back to new shoots or where a leaf break was before.
Step 3:
Feed with a “Rose Food” and water well. Rose food, as mentioned earlier comes in both a liquid and a granular form. Feed and water the plant generously to encourage healthy re-growth, foliage and flowers. Do it now for at least one really good flush before the season is over.
Step 4:
Spray the plant with a fungicide as a precaution rather than a treatment. On-going spraying with a good fungicide such as Multi-Rose or Rose-Clear will help the new growth to protect itself from airborne fungus such as Black spot.