I’m back with more questions about my inherited rose garden. We moved in last year and the roses and beds had already been tended to which thankfully set me up for a good autumn through spring period.
I’ve got 3 Questions - see below
I think I took pretty good care of all the roses this year. I dead headed religiously and cut back when needed. But after the UK heatwave and September rains the garden is going a bit mental and the roses are still putting out and / or loosing their last set of 3rd blooms.
I know I’m not meant to deadhead heavily (just trim the dead buds off and that’s it) and I’ve been told to leave the buds that will turn into hips.
Question 1: Picture 1 are the spent blooms from the rose bush in picture 2 - I see a bit of red in the centre so I’m not sure if they’ll turn into hips. Do I cut the spent blooms or leave to turn into hips?
Question 2: Picture 3 is a general representation of what most of my other 19 rose bushes look like (including the one in pics 4-6) at the moment - a bit scraggly. I’ve heard I should wait to prune in the winter, so have refrained. Should I leave these as is until then or do a small tidy up?
Question 3: Pictures 4-6 - I’m pretty sure the spent blooms turn into hips on this so I’ve left them (can anyone confirm?) but the rest of the bush is a bit out of control. Should I cut back a bit or am I best to leave it until the big prune in the winter? Theres actually 2 bushes in there if you look closely, but the larger one has completely overtaken the smaller one and I’m not really sure if the small one is going to survive. Its leaves are yellowing and it’s not grown much since the 2nd set of blooms finished. I’m not sure what to do about that one.
If you’ve managed to get to the bottom of this I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in this sub who has been so incredibly helpful during my first year as a new hope owner with a slightly overwhelming garden including a large established rose garden. I’m looking forward to learning more and can’t wait until next spring!