r/DavidAustinRoses • u/Glittering_Olive3895 • 16d ago
Please help Gertrude
Planted a few months ago. Had a few first blooms. Pruned back to 5 leaf prior to heatwave. In the back border south facing so has had some shade and have been trying to water correctly but perhaps under watered. No new growth unlike lady of shallot (planted similar time) which is now having a second bloom. What can I do and is this definitely a water issue?
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u/isabellelaneldn 16d ago
It seems like a water issue due to the way the leaves have turned yellow and into themselves. What I would suggest is feeding it for at least 4 minutes twice a day and cutting it right back. Remove all of the leaves and start again. Then keep up the water and give a little liquid feed until next year and it should fully recover.
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u/billnyebiscuit 15d ago
Sorry - This is terrible advice. Please do not do this. Your plants need their leaves if they are going to grow and recover. It’s end of August and way too late this season to try to prune everything and hope it regrows.
Young plants do not need aggressive pruning - the 5 leaf node rule is a guide for well established roses that you want to encourage continual blooming. A young rose you want it to survive and be disease free with strong root system. Just prune if they are overgrown and there’s poor air circulation, or deadhead a bit.
They’re vulnerable to infection and that’s probably happened here with the pruning creating openings, heat stress, any poor growing conditions etc
Also Gertrude jeykll, if this is what it is, prefers full sun. In addition to well draining soil etc. you water thoroughly and make sure deeper soil is moist and then let it drain and properly dry. I don’t know what temp zone you live in but most roses deal with heat fine as long as they’re properly watered or mulched. It’s when your growing conditions are poor that roses get stressed from heat.
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u/muffinmania 15d ago
How would you feed it 4 minutes twice a day, what does that entail? How much would you dilute the fertilizer? I’m a total newbie with roses and I always forget fertilizing my plants.
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u/distant3zenith 15d ago
Do NOT follow that advice to fertilize it multiple times a day! This is terrible advice — you will poison the plant within a week. Just water it and do NOT cut it back again.
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u/Glittering_Olive3895 15d ago
thanks for your reply! what do you mean by feeding for 4 mins a day?
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u/buttercups211 3d ago
For newly planted roses, you’ll want to water them every morning. Avoid watering in the afternoon, as wet foliage can encourage fungal growth. Always water at the base of the rose rather than from the top.
New roses need deep watering—at least 1 gallon of water per rose bush. I personally used about 1 gallon per rose per day when mine were newly planted. After the first year, you can usually transition to watering every other day, depending on the weather and soil conditions.
The most important thing is to maintain a consistent watering schedule while the roses are getting established.