Rosa 'Tranquillity' (Pot Size 6L) David Austin Roses

Planting Guide

Before planting your David Austin rose, you need to water it thoroughly. Next, use a fork and loosen the soil structure in preparation for digging a hole. Use a garden spade to dig a hole roughly twice the size and depth of the container the pot is currently in. Fill the bottom third of the planting hole with SylvaGrow Organic Farmyard Manure. Place a small handful of Mycorrhiza fungi in the bottom of the planting hole. This will aid the plant's root development as the plant establishes. Remove your rose from the pot and start to tease the roots out from the root ball. After this place the rose into the planting hole. Make sure the rootstock of the rose is planted slightly lower than it was in its original pot. This will help stop as much suckering growth from appearing from the rootstock of the rose. Once in the final planting position backfill the hole with a mixture of SylvaGrow manure and soil. Be careful to remove large clogs or rubbly from the soil place around the rose. Finally, firm the soil around the base of the rose and water once finished.
Roses can be mulched after planting to keep weeds down. The Boma recommends using a thick mulch of SylvaGrow Organic Farmyard Manure around the rose after planting. Do not mulch roses with composted bark as this can absorb nutrients from the soil competing with the rose plant

Plant Care

Winter

Reduce the height of roses to reduce wind rock on the rootstock in early winter. Remove all foliage to prevent leaf diseases from passing onto next year’s leaves. From the base of the plant collect all leaves and debris on the soil surface and discard them. Supporting large roses with canes to prevent wind rock on the rootstock is also a good idea. 

Spring

In spring, look at plant shape as a general rule of pruning cut-out plant stems that are: Dead, Diseased, Crossing Congested, or Weak. The process of pruning roses is to create an open-shaped plant with a strong structure that can support the weight of lots of blooms. A rose’s natural form, if left unpruned can become leggy with woody brittle stems over time. Pruning encourages new growth, compact habit, and prolific flowering. Always prune with a slanted cut just above an outward-facing leaf bud. To maintain the current height of your rose, prune back the stems by 1/3 of the total height. To reduce the height of older shrub David Austin roses prune back rose stems by half.

Summer

Deadhead throughout the summer to encourage more flowers foliar feed of seaweed in a spray applied to the roses to help keep your rose in optimum health.

Autumn

 Remove all dead flower heads from your rose in late autumn. Any stem that dies back over summer should always be pruned back to white pith in the stem center. Look at the center of the plant and see if congested stems need to be thinned out to allow better airflow around the plant. Air flow around the centre of the plant is vital to help control leaf diseases such as: mildew and blackspot.