Roses

jlfrs01

Hello all,

I'm hoping for some guidance on the state of my roses.

All were planted as bare root roses in February/March last year, a mixture of shrubs and climbers. The majority are in a north facing rear garden and are relatively sheltered, the minority in front south-facing beds.

In the last 4-6 weeks in particular I have noticed a lot of leaf loss and not just from lower down the stems affecting all plants, front and back. The leaves turn yellow and fall off and I'm wondering if this is normal autumnal behaviour for roses because online searches seem to suggest otherwise. The south-facing ones are pretty bare now.

Thanks for any light which can be shed!

Farway

Normal, it's autumn and leaves fall off. Soon you will just have bare sticks.

At that time, and depending on where you live, Shetland or Scilly, it will be time to prune them a bit, Shetland way down to prevent them being blown out of the ground, Scilly just a bit of tidying up with main prune come next Spring

PS different pruning rules for climbers.

jlfrs01

Thank-you Farway, put my mind at rest! I live in The Cotswolds, so Winter doesn't really set in until nearer year-end. I was going to give it until the first frosts before pruning. I had planned on leaving the climbers completely unless you've any sage advice to pass my way? I'll give them a spray come February time as they were hit pretty hard by fungus this year, again I think it was the constant run of wet weather. Being in shade doesn't help either, though the varieties I have were selected specifically for their shade-tolerance (according to David Austin's website).

twopenny

It's been a terrible year for bugs and fungus. 
The long spells of wet with blistering heat also has had many plants hanging on for dear life.
So keep an eye but mostly they will cope.

One thing you may be able to do to help is clear away as much leaf matter from under and mulch with some compost.

[Deleted User]

jlfrs01 said:

Thank-you Farway, put my mind at rest! I live in The Cotswolds, so Winter doesn't really set in until nearer year-end. I was going to give it until the first frosts before pruning. I had planned on leaving the climbers completely unless you've any sage advice to pass my way? I'll give them a spray come February time as they were hit pretty hard by fungus this year, again I think it was the constant run of wet weather. Being in shade doesn't help either, though the varieties I have were selected specifically for their shade-tolerance (according to David Austin's website).

Pruning can actually be done any time in winter - climbers are generally the group 2 pruning now.
The fungal attack on roses can weaken their system, it causes leaf drop early, as you've seen, it's a constant battle in some areas, don't underplant with anything and keep other plants away from them - the airflow around roses helps a lot, use a systemic anti fungal spray regularly to control attacks.