This month we Ask Philip:
What would you say to someone who says ‘roses are a lot of hard work to look after’.
The rose has suffered from having generations of experts pontificating about care and culture of the rose. Each and every author of the numerous books puts forward their pet theories and ideas. These often conflict with the next authors views.
The fallacy of this is that roses are simple, people are complex. There is never a consensus about something as simple as how deeply a plant should be planted. Different people have different views, largely because they advocate what works for them. They live in places with different soil types, cold heavy wet soil, don’t plant too deeply as any green stem underground is likely to rot and die, on a light free draining sandy soil, plant deeper, the stem won’t rot if some is underground, over time it may even develop more roots.
Gardening and therefore roses are not one size fits all. One of the joys of gardening is learning to work with nature, with your individual soil, micro climate and garden. You do what works for you, not what an expert who has never been to your part of the country says is the rule. There are very few rules, they are guidelines for you to question and adapt. If it works for you, it is right.
The purpose of a garden and any plant in a garden is pleasure and relaxation. The garden is an area of natural beauty, it is a place where we can observe so much of the work of nature, it is a space where we can learn from nature. Nature is a competitive place, but a very well balanced place.
We keep weeds under control as they are plants that are too successful and will dominate or suffocate the plants we want to enjoy. We keep insects under control because we don’t like them. If we don’t keep insects under control, nature will very quickly step in with natural predators, be they lacewings, ladybirds or birds.
You may have to go through the intense infestation first, and then nature will sort out the problem. If you have flowers that you cut for the house, spray insecticide on those plants, leave nature to do the rest. Is an imperfection or blemish on a rose a part of nature or assault on our senses? Nature is full of imperfections, I personally love nature in all it many guises.
Roses are as much work as you make them. You may prune assiduously searching out every eye to cut to, or you may chop them down without a second glace at the exact point you are cutting to. Both will give good results, the modern rose produces so many stems it is hardly worth trying to shape the plant at pruning time, unless you are looking for perfection.
Roses are not hard work, they are a pleasure. They can involve us in nature and help us to understand nature.
Check back soon to see what we Ask Philip next month. If you have a topic you’d like our Ask Philip blog to cover email: louise@harknessrosecompany
