Much ado about roses

CARE: PRUNE, WATER, FERTILISE, USE INSECT REPELLANT

- Ludwig Taschner

The sap is already flowing, so cutting back hard is not advisable. Rather, do a light pruning by reducing the bush by one-third, clipping or pulling off last season's leafy growth, removing old woody stems, and opening up the bush in the center by cutting out criss-crossing stems and twiggy growth.

There is also still time to regenerate the soil around the roses by digging in compost and other organic material to aerate the soil and improve its water retention ability.

Twice in a Blue Moon. Take a second look. Where roses have been pruned and are sprouting, it is possible to carry out corrective pruning.

Check out the sprouting of upper eyes on each "cut." By cutting back to the strongest sprouting growth on a stem, the diverted sap flow will encourage them to become stronger.