"Sacha" wrote in message
...
My mother has a rose garden in her house in the Channel Islands and it's a
very old one. (My family has owned the house for 50 years and it was
there
when we moved in) The roses really aren't thriving, even the younger
replacements and we're wondering what she can do about this. It seems
clear
that the soil is 'rose sick'. Moving the rose garden to another area
isn't
an option and this location is ideal as it's towards the end of the
sloping
garden but hidden from sight by a hedge so that nobody has to look at a
load
of bare sticks in winter!
We're all wondering whether the rose beds can be dug out and new soil
imported to refill them and if so, to what depth they should be dug out
etc.
She very much wants to keep it as a rose garden because she's always known
it that way and my late stepfather loved it dearly. Has anyone else ever
tried doing this to rejuvenate old rose beds?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)

The RHS were trialing planting in cardboard boxes full of fresh compost, I
think the idea is by the time the rose gets through the box its got going.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)