At this time in our rose garden we observe the emerging shoots of our anticipated rose blooms. If you have not already done so, mulch heavily the entire area of your rose beds. The intent here is to inhibit weed growth, and to provide the beds with a top cover of material which will inhibit loss of moisture in hotter periods. Much saving of time spent watering can be so achieved, not to mention the saving of water.

If you don't already know, our preferred practice is to use fowl manure for this purpose. It is readily available from egg producers, and it doesn't matter whether it is old or new droppings. Just ensure that you leave a couple of inches of clear soil around the crown of the plant to prevent the chance of fresh manure perhaps burning the plant. We have been using this method for years with great success, and we are not even too fussy about that last suggestion. We are most concerned with totally limiting weed emergence. By using this practice we are in fact applying a slow release fertiliser for 12 months, and we repeat this task every year. It keeps the soil open through the heightened action of our worm population, and the addition of such active humus means it is incorporated into the soil structure thus assisting aeration, which facilitates easy transport of nutrition down to the root system.

Try to resist the use of chemical fertilisers. It is our belief that misuse or even the use of such substances heightens the risk of introducing a level of toxicity to the soil which may be difficult to reverse.