Hello folks,

I have "inherited" (i.e. no one else in the building does ANYTHING in
the garden) a tiny patch of communal garden with 5 roses (and room for
one more) in it and I have a few hard-hitting questions. First, the
details...

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The garden has two strips, one about 2m x 0.5m with three short (knee
to thigh high) roses - they have no old growth to speak of and are on
poor shape but are still hanging on in there with some mixed
yellowy-pink or pinky-white blooms growing on about 3 or 4 new stems
on each bush. They have been infrequently weeded, never fed and only
occasionally pruned. Let's call these #1, #2 and #3.

The main area, 2mx2m has two older and taller roses, about
chest-height and VERY woody. This patch was totally choked with
head-height weeds and saplings which I have now removed, exposing the
roses. One bush (#4) has one old stem, thickly wooded but just about
productive on its tip and two new stems, both spindly and leggy. The
other bush (#5) is sick - very sick. It has no old stems (they were
all dead) and one new stem, again very thin. #4 has a few leaves left
and poor #5 has none - yup - none!

We are in Scotland (UK) - we get short summers and long wet winters
with lots of damp weather, so I guess I can say it safely here -
fungus, black spots, rusty bits and aphids. All 5 plants have fungus
on all leaves, to varying degrees, but the two older roses are in very
poor shape - since cleaing the weeds and putting down a load of rose
feed, they have all started to sprout. #4 has sprouted on all its thin
stems and it is good vigorous growth but poor #5 is only slowly
sprouting. It has pushed out a couple of leaf buds which with time may
recover.

I have sprayed for fungus and aphids once, and intend to repeat in
about a week. I'd say the soil is slighty clayey (sp?) and fairly
drained with some organic material (we have worms, lots of worms -
plus plenty of creepy crawlies!) and houses a dense crop of bulbs
(mainly tulips, self-regulated over about 10 years). It is south
facing and gets a lot of rain and wind.

Now, I don't have a fortune to spend on this patch - it is not a show
garden, and I can't even see it from my part of the building, but I go
past it every day and I want to rescue it. I have a spade, hoe and
fork, plus secateurs, and a bag of general rose feed. There is room
for one more rose in the larger patch which can have a fresh start. I
think fungus will be a fact of life, so there's not much I can
probably do there. I will not have a lot of time on a daily basis to
work on the patch, but I do want to save it, so will be checking it
every few days.

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Now the questions...

Which bushes stay and which, sadly, have to go? (Anyone in the UK will
know we folk in Scotland rarely throw anything away!)

How can I improve the soil?

How can I make any surviving roses healthier?

Do you have any beginners advice for me? I.e. is it the correct time
of year to put in an extra rose or should I wait till next year?

Please feel free to cut and paste bits of my above post in any (much
appreciated) answers.

Thanks!