"Ian B" wrote in message
...
The garden has half a dozen rose bushes in it, in various states. This one
is about the saddest looking. It had severe problems with black spot last
year, such that I now informally know it as Typhoid Mary.

http://img594.imageshack.us/i/iansrose.jpg/

So this year I read up about pruning for about thirty seconds on the
internet, then hacked savagely at all the bushes in the hope of creating
some improvement. They're all sprooting now, but the big problem with this
one is that it only has one, or if you're generous and squint your eyes a
bit, two canes coming out of the bud union (which also, as you can see, is
rather a long way above the ground for some reason). The rest is just a
big lump of gnarly old bark.

Is there anything I can do to improve its prospects and get some more, I
believe they're called "basal breaks", or is it the Gordon Brown of the
rose garden that is just clinging on until somebody does the kind thing
and puts it out of its misery? It produced one little red rose last year,
which was impressive considering all the leaves it lost (and it had not
many to start with) in my attempts to control the spread of the spot.

It looks fine for this stage of your season. You've got new growth on it
and lots of buds which will come out progressivley. Give it some fish/sea
weed emulsion at the recommended rate every two weeks through the growing
season and give it an organic rose food at 6 week intervals through the
growing season and give it a mulch around the base, but not close up to the
stem.