The other thing that’s really worth thinking about is applying a tonic. Now, this one is called Uncle Tom’s Rose Tonic and it’s really brilliant for roses, but it’s also good for shrubs as well. Dilute it – you take off this screw cap here and then you squeeze the canister to fill up the little reservoir; and that gives you a measured dilution I then add a high potash liquid feed during the season to encourage good strong colours in the blooms.” INNER JOIN `catalog_category_product_index_store1` AS `cat_index` ON cat_index.product_id=e.entity_id AND cat_index.store_id=1 AND cat_index.visibility IN(2, 4) AND cat_index.category_id=2

This wild growth will look different, being a lime green leaf colour with a matt finish, which can overtake the growth of the correct grafted rose and eventually kill off the grafted part of the rose if not controlled. These can sadly often do more harm than good and are a poor choice for wildlife and the environment.Unfortunately, for many gardeners, the usual response when growing roses is to reach for non-organic, synthetic fertilisers. I feed my roses annually with a granular feed like national growmore, tonk’s rose feed or fish blood and bone,” shares David Allison from the NSALG. The 500ml bottle will treat up to 50 Roses during a rose season. Uncle Tom's Rose Tonic is also available in 1 litre size - which offers a better cost per ml. Regular fortnightly spraying during active growth before you see problems is recommended. You can alternate with natural bee-friendly products like Sulphur Rose, Uncle Tom’s Tonic and SB Plant Invigorator.

However, most of the roses grown in UK gardens are hybrid types or those that have been bred over generations to have the optimal visual appeal.A good pruning regime and an annual mulch of organic matter which will do three things,” says David Allison. Roses are very hungry plants and should therefore be fed regularly throughout their livesto ensure maximum blooms and growth, from first year plants through to 50 year oldramblers.We recommend a good feed of a nitrogen high feed like “ Top Rose Gold” after the late-winterprune in February, then feeding every two weeks throughout the flowering period with ahigh potash feed like “ Tomorite” or " Uncle Tom's Rose Tonic". These plants are somewhat fussier than wild roses and are very hungry plants that often need additional feeding to perform at their best.

Uncle Tom's Rose Tonic is a fantastic easy to use product that acts as a tonic/rose feed to promote new strong and healthy growth. Uncle Tom's is a natural and safe product which is perfect for gardeners who don't like to use chemicals within their garden, and also this makes it bee, insect and butterfly friendly. Use every 7-14 days in periods of active growth (April to October) - starting early to prevent disease problems and encourage healthy growth from the beginning of the season, and save the ease of trying to cure an issue. These and other organic additions can be added to a planting hole when planting new roses or crushed, chopped and spread around the roses in spring before you mulch around the area with your primary slow-release feed and mulch material. Once the flower buds form, it is then best to switch to a potassium-rich organic liquid plant feed.

The fortnightly feed for roses before buds form should be a general-purpose, relatively balanced organic liquid fertiliser, such as compost tea. All of these products are safe to bees and pollinating insects & non resistant to roses so can be sprayed on the plants as many times as needed.

Control can be left to nature with birds and other insects like parasitic wasps feeding off them or the onset of cooler weather or wet and windy conditions which greenfly don’t like. One interesting thing that goes on below the soil around roses is that roses form a symbiosis with mycorrhizae, which form fungal networks stretching out from the roots of the roses into the surrounding soil. 1 Mycorrhizal Fungi. (n.d.). David Austin Roses. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/products/david-austin-mycorrhizal-fungi

Tomorite also works well and is one of the cheapest and most readily available. Simply dilute to half the strength recommended on the bottle for Tomatoes. In many instances, where the soil is healthy and fertile, a good quality organic mulch can be sufficient to keep roses growing and blooming well. I write with an endorsement for your product known to me as Farm-Fos-44, but now on sale to the public as Uncle Tom's® Rose Tonic. This will be my 8th year of use. As a Rose Breeder and a countryside lover I try to be as environmentally friendly as humanly possible and only use products that I feel will be safe. Your rose puts tremendous efforts into growing strongly and flowering in large numbers throughout summer and autumn which requires a lot of nutrients from the soil, feeding your roses on a regular basis keeps them strong and healthy and gives them much greater immunity to diseases and health problems.