Make a good house a GREAT home

The cold spells seem to be coming to an end here in South Africa (I HOPE!!!), so it’s that time of year again where most parts of the country can start pruning their roses.

As I mentioned when I spoke about when to prune roses, your aim is to ensure that the new shoots are not destroyed by the frost, so you want to prune near the end of winter.

And, if you are doing the pruning yourself, this is an AWESOME opportunity to listen to an Audiobook.

If you find working in the garden a little boring, passing the time listening to your favourite authors always works for me.

Oh, and if you’re not aware of it, go read the article about rose pruning to get the free little “rose pruning ebook”. Hopefully it can give you a few ideas.

Enjoy, and dress warmly, it’s still pretty chilly

I have a new eBook that is exclusive to subscribers of this website.

It’s title is “How to Prune Roses” and is about 13 pages (depending on when you download it) and includes photos.

It’s main purpose is to give you some sort of guidance when it comes to pruning roses. The first time I did it, I went on a 1-day course, and I’m really glad I did. I don’t think I would have had the guts to prune my roses as “drastically” as I was shown.

So, I thought I would share a bit of what I learnt with you. It’s not comprehensive, but rather is to be used as a guide so that when you prune your roses, you have an idea of what to expect, and what the end result should look like.

When do you prune your roses

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UPDATE: If you’re interested in reading more about pruning roses, visit this page to find out how to download a free eBook: How to Prune Roses

If you’d like your Rose Bushes to grow and flower a little more than they are currently, I’m just going to tell you a little thing I learnt about where to prune my roses.

One of the keys to helping roses grow more “bushy” and flower more, is obviously to prune them, but also to prune them just above an “eye”.

In the photo below, the red arrow is pointing the the eye on the rose stem (that has already been pruned):

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If you’ve been growing your roses and you’d like a simple, yet slightly different way to use them to decorate a table, here’s an idea we tried out at home that, personally, looks really good.

And, some benefits are that it’s really quick to do, and really quick to clean, as you’ll see.

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In my post titled “White fungus on Roses” I spoke about a new way that I was watering my roses. It’s not anything amazing, except that it just feels like it works a LOT better, and doesn’t get the leaves of my roses wet.

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It looks like even though I’ve sprayed my roses quite regularly, they managed to get a little fungus. It looks like white powder on the leaves of my roses. And, I think it might be the dreaded “Powdery Mildew“.

A fungus generally grows in damp conditions, which is quite bad, considering roses need water, which, if you’re not careful, can lead to damp leaves…

I think the main culprits for my roses getting the fungus are the following:

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What to do for your roses in the month of March.

Northern Hemisphere

This is when you’ll need to:

• Pick off about half of the new shoots, to encourage new growth
• Water your roses at least twice a week
• Spray your rose bush every 2 weeks
• Fertilise the soil

Southern Hemisphere

• Water around 3 times a week. More if it’s really hot where you are
• As mentioned in “4 tips for caring for Roses“, prune your roses, cutting back the flowers once they’ve bloomed.
• Spray your roses every 1-2 weeks
• And, fertilise your roses at the beginning of the month, watering them thoroughly afterwards

What to do for your roses in the month of February.

Northern Hemisphere

This is when you’ll need to:

• Apply mulch to protect your roses from the cold, and keep the moisture in
• Water your roses once a week
• Spray your rose bush after pruning

Southern Hemisphere

• Water around 3 times a week. More if it’s really hot where you are
• As mentioned in “4 tips for caring for Roses“, prune your roses, cutting back the flowers once they’ve bloomed
• Also mentioned in the above post, spray your roses every 1-2 weeks
• And, fertilise your roses at the beginning of the month, watering them thoroughly afterwards

What to do for your roses in the month of January.

Northern Hemisphere

Being the middle of winter (practically), this is the time for you to:

• prune your roses, cutting them right back
• Water your roses once a week
• add compost to your roses beds and churn the soil for increased aeration
• transplant your roses if necessary
• Spray your rose bush after pruning

Southern Hemisphere

• Water AT LEAST 3 times a week. More if it’s really hot where you are
• As mentioned in “4 tips for caring for Roses“, prune your roses, cutting back the flowers once they’ve bloomed
• Also mentioned in the above post, spray your roses every 1-2 weeks
• And, fertilise your roses at the beginning of the month, watering them thoroughly afterwards

When I went to the nursery to buy my roses, the person who helped me used to look after the roses that the nursery used to enter in flower competitions, before they had sold that part of the business. It’s an adjoining restaurant, where I got married. You can see a photo of it in my post entitled “Wedding Photography in South Africa – Review“. Unfortunately you can’t see much because it’s a night shot.

Anyway… When he was helping me pack the roses into my car, I asked him for his top tip on caring for roses. He gave me his top tip, and added another, and added another… So I thought I’d compile his best tips for caring for roses.

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