Gardening expert shares 'essential' job to do this month to keep much-loved plants alive

Autumn has arrived, and green thumbs are advised to show their roses some love to ensure they bounce back gloriously next spring. Sutton Manor Nursery’s very own gardening expert, William Mitchell, has delivered his essential piece of advice: give your roses an "essential" prune to help them withstand the winter chill.

He underscores the importance of pruning shrub roses to safeguard them during the frosty season and to "guarantee a luscious, bloom-filled plant full of flowers return the next year".

It's that time of the year for rose caretakers to spruce up their blooms by clearing away old flowers or any sickly leaves and get stuck into some therapeutic pruning. Highlighting the growth spurt that both shrub and bush roses undergo, William points out: "By the time the autumn months come around, both shrub and bush roses will most likely have grown very tall."

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He marks the onset of autumn as the period when the weather starts to turn harsh, advocating for immediate action: trim those lofty stems "back by a third and a half".

For a flourishing future, prune in a way that encourages an open-centred structure, which enhances air circulation — always cut above a bud facing outwards. As affirmed by Express, executing this gardening technique promises strong growth.

Yet William offers a cautionary note: "The conditions that can hugely damage these uncut long stems are wintery windy weather."

Those neglected elongated stems could suffer in stormy conditions, potentially causing damage and destabilizing the plant in its foundation.

It's also vital to trim the heads of standard roses as their rounded tops can act like sails, catching the wind and potentially breaking off in severe weather. For the remainder of the month, gardening enthusiasts are advised to maintain their gardens by cutting away any damp, wilted rose blooms to prevent rot from setting in.

It's crucial to remove and dispose of any remaining leaves showing signs of disease, such as mildew or black spot, as these can lead to recurring diseases year after year.