Protect roses from fungal attack

In order for roses to remain healthy and vigorous and for the remontant varieties to show good post-blooming in the fall, they now need a strong top-up fertilization after the first flush of flowers in June.

Opinions on the right way to prune roses are as varied as they are - often - hotly disputed. But at least as far as the right time is concerned, there is a simple, quite objective rule from the Phenological Garden Calendar (which can be used to set dates for regular gardening work based on natural phenomena): Roses are pruned in the spring, when the forsythia bloom.

In autumn there is still some work to be done in the rose bed: To protect the grafting site from severe frosts, mounding is done and, where necessary, long shoots are shortened somewhat.