Lightly cultivate no more than 2 inches deep. If ya knick a root, it
probably won't hurt the rose.
"John Wilkins" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Its nearing the end of Summer here in Melbourne. Its been really hot 40C
days several times and we had drought conditions for a very very long
time.

I've been weeding my garden and I noticed that the soil is quite hard. I
thought it would be a good idea to dig around the roses and break up the
clay and baked dirt and aerate the soil a bit. I dug around some of the
roses but I am worried that I may damage their roots.

How deep should I dig around the roses and how close can I get?