In article , MLL Lorri_Lynn_Robinson
@hotmail.com writes
Hello everyone,

I moved to the UK in Feb and purchased a house in June.
It has the most lovely English Cottage Garden.

What could be the problem you ask?

There are hundreds and I am lost!

The lady that lived here before just plunked down what ever she bought in
any open space
she could find!

There are over 50 roses and they ALL have rot/mildew/wilt/bugs!
They are in the middle of lilies, under trees, stuck in the shade, the list
goes on and on.

I adore the way it looks as if it was just done with a bit of eccentricity.

How bad do the roses look? You could just not look too closely ;-)
Pruning off any badly mildewed bit won't hurt. And watering might stop
it recurring. Blackspot (big black spots on leaves) - you need to take
the affected leaves off and put them in the dustbin rather than the
compost heap. Greenfly the birds will deal with.

Here lies the trouble tho. I am at a loss as to how and sort it!
The Lavender and Rosemary are as huge as trees!
How and when to prune?

After flowering is a good rule of thumb. Lavender shouldn't be pruned
back too hard - it doesn't always re-shoot. If you can leave till
spring, the seeds will attract goldfinches over winter, and in spring
you'll see green buds emerging, which will give you a good idea of how
far back you can prune. Or, it they're too horrible, grub them out and
start afresh.

The Roses are in BAD condition, Do I just chop them all back now?

It won't hurt them.

What about the climbers that are covering buildings and have about 4 leaves
and those are only on the ends?

Cut back about half the main stems to the base to encourage good new
shoots from the base.

There seems to be no way to fix this except to rip it all up.

Don't do that for at least a year - see what you have in there first.
And it will seem much emptier in winter - this is about the busiest time
of year.

Tho the weather seems so much milder here than in the heat of the
Mid West back home I am still worried about doing that.

I have raked up the dead leaves and twigs from the roses, dead headed them
as well as done My best not to be to fussy about the layout, knowing
that only adds to how lovely it looks all smushed together but I do
need some help!

Cut back things to keep paths passable. Kick out anything you really
hate. Keep the rest. If anything you really love is being crowded out,
trim the things which are crowding it. Then just wait and watch.

It will get better! Promise!
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm