Wealden Times | WT265 | June 2024 | Education Supplement inside

Roses in the mixed border
It was a trip to Sissinghurst
Castle, not long after they
revamped the rose garden, that
was my road to Damask-us
moment. It might have been the
way that the roses were elegantly
looped onto supports or cleverly
caged into pillar shapes, the
careful choice of harmonious
under and inter-planting of
cottage garden perennials, the
old fashioned, highly scented
romantic blousiness of them...
I think it was all of the above
– made to look an effortless,
glorious tumble, but in truth
highly orchestrated (this style
is the hardest to achieve). I
suddenly saw what all the fuss
was about and ever since then
I have been slightly obsessed
and each autumn will add one
or two to the garden. I have
tried looping them down onto
hoops too, but you need a lot
of space for this – and need to
be careful what you choose for
the hoops, as pliable hazel and
willow are prone to sprouting.
As for the plants to grow
around them, it is tempting
to stick with the lovely cottage
garden plants – geraniums
and nepeta work very well as
underplanting, with taller plants
like foxgloves, verbascums and
delphiniums in between. The
problem with archetypal cottage
flowers is that they tend to finish
flowering in July – and the first
flush of the roses is usually over
by then, too, so the borders
can look a bit depleted.
Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is a good
choice for endless flowers and
tall, airy Verbena bonariensis will
waft happily around for a long
time too. Plan for a succession
of flowers and add in late
bloomers like salvias, echinaceas
and sedums for colour from
late July until the frosts.
To extend the flowering
time, dead head as much as you
can – in fact most of the early
perennials can be chopped back
to the ground in July. This will
tidy their foliage and most will
flower again into the bargain.
Geranium
‘Rozanne’is
a good choice
for endless
flowers
Keeping the show
on the road
Dead-head your roses by
snipping them off just above
a set of leaves to encourage
more flowers. There are some
that you should not dead head,
though, and these are either
those that have lovely rose
hips, ramblers or species roses.
Species roses flower only once,
but in abundance. They will
not bloom again no matter
if you dead head, but these
often have lovely hips too.
The great thing about
species roses is that they
tend to be vigorous and free
of disease. Rosa rugosa is
one of my favourites, with
single blooms (so good for
pollinators) and huge
Garden Perfection
City Escapes provide domestic & commercial garden solutions
Pond/Lake Construction | Bank Restoration
Desilting & Pond Cleaning | Fish Removal
Aquatic Weed Removal | Planting Programmes
Aeration & Fountains Installations
SUPPLIER OF CARP & COARSE FISH
Based in Kent and cover Kent, Sussex, Surrey, London & Essex
07746 137468
email: info@hubbleaquacare.co.uk
■■
■■
■■
■■
■■
Regular Maintenance
Design & Construction
Small one off works
Turf care management
Problem area Solutions
■■
■■
■■
■■
Seasonal Bedding plant displays
Approved pesticide/
herbicides operators
Habitat Management
RHS qualified gardeners
Tel: 01435 868211 | M: 07831 302107
E: gardensmanager@gmail.com
www.cityescapes.co.uk
priceless-magazines.com
123 CityEscapesWT250.indd 1 07/02/2023 16:52