Several routes to success in the garden

When comparing plants with an acquaintance and discussing the cultivation, how often has someone told you 'Oh I don't grow it that way'.

- BY TOM PATTINSON

Fortunately, there are several routes to success in gardening. If the method you've followed for years works and you are happy - stick with it.

The pruning of roses is a reasonable example of this, especially the what, how and when.

Most gardeners would probably agree that some pruning is needed during the lifetime of a rose.

Otherwise, we would have in our gardens a reflection of the natural decay process so obvious in the surrounding countryside where the dog rose (Rosa canina) thrives unattended.

Any dead, dying, diseased or weak stems cling on as the bush grows.