Sue wrote:

"Sacha" wrote

What kind of roses are they? Shrub, patio, hybrid tea? Roses are gross
feeders so that has to be taken into consideration.

There was a piece in November's issue of Gardeners' World magazine about a
commercial rose nursery where they've devised a method of growing all types
of roses, even ramblers, in pots and containers. Basically it requires
pruning the main tap root right back, trimming back the top growth to
compensate, taking out weak shoots, and planting in a big container (they
say at least 10 litres) in a soil based compost mix in order to promote
fresh fibrous roots.

The grower has his own secret recipe which you can buy ready bagged, but
the recommended DIY mix was 75 percent John Innes No 3; 5 percent peat; 10
percent horticultural sand; 10 percent horticultural grit; and some slow
release fertiliser. This was said to be enough nutrient for one season
after which you'd feed with more SRF in late March and again in July. To
keep the plant long term in its pot you need to reprune the roots every two
years and repot into fresh compost.

Googling brings this up which I think must have been the basis of the
article:
http://www.robertmattockroses.com/compost.htm

Excellent, thanks a lot for this. I feel a trip to the garden centre
coming on, oh and where are my secateurs?

Peter
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