New roses and wrapping up

We all grow a variety of plants which are native to other countries. But some people enjoy the challenge of growing plants in their garden from foreign lands which have climates very unlike our own. Pa l m trees for example.

If you are tempted, be warned as this is the time of year when you need to consider wrapping up these plants to protect them from our winter weather.

I used to tease Carole Baxter about the palm she planted at Beechgrove. Gracious me, it was happed up for about six months of the y e a r, from early November till May – how lovely was that?

What kind of an asset is that to any garden?

Now, if it had been planted in a big pot, it could be protected somewhere more discreet over the winter months.

Then she could have done a Carol Klein!

I remember seeing Ms Klein marching round her garden in early summer, with huge herbaceous plants and one or two shrubs in big pots, looking for areas in her borders that were looking a bit colourless whereupon she simply plonked a pot down in a convenient space.

And if I remember correctly, she gardens in the south-west – Somerset or thereabout.

The pot didn’t have to be fancy by the way, because it was going to be hidden by the surrounding foliage. A nifty idea, eh?

Still on the subject of preparing plants for the winter, and following on from my comments about storing dahlia tubers, I was asked the question in the paper shop the other day: “Couldn’t dahlias be left in the ground and covered over with a thick mulch?”

The simple answer is yes, but it depends on where you live, what kind of soil you have and the location of the border.

Our second home, when we left Scotland for the south, was in Shropshire, in the county town of Shrewsbur y, where we rented a flat in a big old house.

The owner of the house, who lived in a ground-floor flat, tended the garden and that was where I first saw dahlias left out in situ as it were, all winter.

The tubers were in a border along the bottom of the house wall, facing south – free-draining soil, dryish position, soil warmed slightly by winter sunshine, earthed up after the stems had been c ut back, it worked a treat.

That was over 50 years ago. Now, with climate change, who knows, maybe some of you out there would get away with that technique in these parts.

I would still be bringing them indoors. As a postscript to that tale, at that time I was working in the education department of the county council, teaching City and Guilds, advising on school gardens and running courses for the public.

Asked to judge at the Baschurch Flower Show, I duly turned up to be paired with guess who?

None other than Percy Thrower!

I learned a lot that day, what a super guy he was, lived not far from Baschurch in a house called The Magnolias.

Last week I was on about planting fruit trees, all of which would need to be staked and tied securely to prevent wind-rocking.

If you have young trees in the garden planted and staked a year or two ago, I suggest that you check these ties if you haven’t already done so – the stems may not grow taller but they do grow thicker. Need I say more? You don’t want to be accused of strangling them.

Yet another question asked “in the passing”.

Last week I was concerned with planting apple trees, this week, the question that was asked concerned planting roses, but there was a twist to the query.

“I have just pulled out some old roses that were becoming a bit leggy and carrying fewer flowers.

“They have served us well but they have to go. Can I plant some new bushes in the same bit of the garden because a neighbour said that was not a good idea, making reference to what I think he called rose re- plant disease?”

Yo u r neighbour was correct, up to a point.

This condition is also referred to as “Rose sickness”.

Funnily enough, there is not one disease organism or pathogen responsible for this condition, it is caused by a combination of factors.

And f i r s t l y, funnily enough, I must mention the rootstock because modern roses are grafted on to a stock.

When I started in the business, the stocks were selections of the wild dog rose – Rosa canina – and thorny devils they were to work with.

R. canina was replaced about the same time by a stock called R. laxa, which was not only easier to handle but actually produced much be tter finished products.

To digress, as a school summer holiday job, I worked on Samson’s rose nursery in Kilmarnock, over the dyke from Rugby Park football ground but now covered in houses.

My job was to tie in the grafted buds behind the man inserting the buds in the rootstock. As you will know, roses can be in the same bit of ground for decades and, over time, the root systems can be attacked by a wide range of organisms which together debilitate the bushes. (I ken the feelin!)

Remove them and plant new ones and they will immediately start to be affected.

The answer is simple. Whether planting bareroot or potted plants, you have to replace the soil in the planting hole with soil from another part of the garden – simple.

How much and how deep? Imagine a box 45 x 45 x 45cm – that should do it.

In addition, you might consider adding the reasonab ly new mycorrhizal fungi product such as Rootgrow.

Many swear by it, but I have yet to see comparative test results.

Far left: Photinia Red Robin, not very hardy in some parts. This one is ready to be popped in to brighten a dull spot! Above: Preparing to replant a rose border with fresh soil and compost. Left: A modern tree tie which has to be checked at this time of year after a season’s growth.