News & Updates:

Digging should never be done in an established rose garden except for replacement of plants and rejuvenation of the beds. Forks should never be used, sharp spades being much safer: they cut any roots encountered, whereas forks drag them to the surface and help to cause suckering.

If digging needs to be deeper than three or four inches, as when removing a plant, always stand with your back nearest to the adjacent plant on each side, so that when the spadeful of earth is lifted and a part of any root is disturbed, it is the part farthest from the plant. This piece will die. The part attached to the plant will not be lifted, will not sucker or be killed, and will throw out several small new roots. Neither will roots of other plants be lifted even though they are cut.

After winter pruning, the spring blooming, and summer trimming, the entire rose garden can be "scratched" to a depth of about three inches. At all times the single-prong culti-vator is the only necessary cultivating implement. Even heavy soil should contain enough humus to prevent it setting too hard for the cultivator to be used easily. Surface soil should be friable. It may take several years to achieve this state in a new garden.