Ask Gerry

My low growing rose bush is top heavy now with dead roses, should i dead head or prune severely now. Is there a way that i can stop this happening next year. It's about 4 years old and was nice until this summer.

HiI'm the proud owner of a very old climbing rose, orignally grown in my great grannies home in Tipperary around the early 1900's. It flowers once a year around early June, has many trusses of soft pink blooms with an incredible frangrance, and for the rest of the year does nothing except get every rose disease known to man! I keep it for the one great show of flowers once a year. I don't know it's name and don't know the correct mehod of pruning - should I chop it back now after flowering or wait till spring? If anyone has any idea of it's name, it would be great or advice on how best to look ater it.

Dear Gerry - I have a rose bed at the front of house for past 3 yrs with 8 rose bushes. They have been healthy & beautiful for the last few yrs but I think I may have cut them back too hard at end Feb/early March. Only 2 of them have started new shoots & all the others look as if they are dead. Should they all be giving out new shoots at this stage? Many thanks as always.

Hi Gerry, I am just back in the country and need to know is it too late to prune a rose tree. There is new growth and stands at about 8 foot all the new growth is at the top of the tree. I prune every year in early Spring to about 3 feet and it always performs very well. Your advice would be appreciated. Pats

I just bought some new rosa rugosa and they are a little leggy and I was wondering when I could prune them.