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Oh my back, oh my arms...
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Posted by varmi WA Aust (My Page) on Fri, Aug 26, 05 at 12:00
| I begin by wondering if it was all worth it!? My father has a block, house now demolished years ago. Growing still are the cottoneasters, daffodils that somehow still manage to flower, camellia(now hopefully transplanted successfully into my front yard- hard yakka, had to be ruthless!), hibiscus "Apple Blossom" and a few other varieties, ivy leaf perlogonium.
And then we have two roses, three really but that one has converted back to rootstock...R fortuniana. These roses look atleast 50years old, I hazard a guess that the clear pink could be Princess Margaret, she's a lovely clear pink, no real scent and reached a height of atleast 7ft. Her branches had been allowed to reach to the sky early in life as some of her branches are roughly 20cm in diameter. These I have since cut down close to ground level and interestingly many were half dead! The root ball, tangled with couch and weeds of all sorts was quite massive and luckily I had help to transplant her, thank god!!
The other much smaller..is a lovely pale pink and loose...magnificent scent!!!! This one was easier to cut and move, still a massive root ball to prove her age.
These roses never got watered, just winter rain and that's it. Pruned at winter only. Unfortunately trespassers? No, pedestrians walking passed took the opportunity to hack out the blooms each spring! The mind boggles as how they think they can enter a property without permission and STEAL them.
So my friends, after all these years I decided that they were going to get a new home. Top 'n' tail, throw it in the ground, drown with water...sounds easy. Working two nights in a row, 2 hours on each, planting in the dark...pure madness!!! My body tells a different story!!
Was it worth it? My oath!!! :))))))))
varmi
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Oh my back, oh my arms...
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Hi Varmi Of course it is worth it, a lot of work for only a couple but they will reward you.
I do feel for our members who have 200 roses to prune, goodness!!! it must take forever.
I only have 34 roses and that takes up a fair bit of time especially with continuing maintenance.
But to see them flowering will certainly be worth all that work. So well done.
Good to see that you are working more in the garden dont overdo it though..Cheers...MM |
RE: Oh my back, oh my arms...
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My 200 plus roses took 3 easy afternoons work - about 14 hours in all. Am I missing something? They look pretty darn good, but I will allow that they are all fairly young and not huge. Then I don't actually let them get huge!
Also spent a couple of hours transplanting and swapping 10 roses to match the colours to the beds better. Again - only young so they had small root balls, and our soil is sodden and friable. I feel like a fraud as a gardener. Am I not working hard enough - LOL :-) |
RE: Oh my back, oh my arms...
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- Posted by varmi WA Aust (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 29, 05 at 0:12
| I probably didn't explain well, the roses were from my father's block and had to be also transported by car to my place...just a 5 min drive. I have close to 200 as well. I don't mind the pruning, just do it over several weeks. But moving old, neglected roses is not much fun!! Last time I shifted one of this size and age was an old Lorraine Lee shrub also 7ft tall. The successful move of this one gave me confidence to tackle these, they don't mind a good hacking!!!! ;) Yes, Briss I breathe a sigh of relief it's over, thank goodness I had help!! On with the flowering!!! Giddyup! ;) varmi |
RE: Oh my back, oh my arms...
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| At least with all our winter rains, the ground has been nice and soft for digging holes-not just sand which keeps falling in- and there is still rain to come-at least down here there is. |
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