Rose 'The Lady Gardener'
Keep your standard rose in great shape with lots of flowers
Standard roses need to be pruned to maintain their spherical, compact head and to encourage it to produce large flowers. Leaving a standard rose un-pruned will result in small flowers and a heavy head, which makes the plant vulnerable to blowing over in a strong wind.
You will need:
- secateurs
- rose fertiliser
- mulch
Completely remove any dead or diseased stems, any which are thin and weak and any which are rubbing against another stem. Cut out any stems which cross over the centre of the crown as you need to maintain a good airflow through the plant to discourage any fungal infections. If there is plenty of new, strong growth cut out some of the old stems as they do not bear as many flowers as new growth and the plant would be better putting energy into the new growth.
Cut back the remaining stems to 15cm (6”) whilst maintaining its spherical shape.
Take off any suckers from the base of the plant as they are below the grafting point and will not be the same as the head.
When the rose finishes flowering in summer cut the whole stem back to about 15cm (6") and just above an outward facing node. Feed with a little rose fertiliser and there is a good chance that it will flower again in late summer/early autumn.
Once you have finished the pruning feed with a rose fertiliser, water and mulch with well-rotted farmyard manure or home-made compost.
For more rose information contact our Outdoor Plants department here in store, browse our blogs or watch the videos on our Youtube channel.
