• Going back to the poorly rose - took a dead branch off last night - snapped off in my hand - and the whole plant feels very light/loose in the ground. There is a tiny number of new shoots right at the base, is there any point in taking it right the way back and just leave those buds to see what happens? Be a shame to lose it completely, but I have a dozen others and I can’t see it getting back to its best.

  • Replant with some added fertiliser, tamp down very firmly and prune down to 5mm above the buds you mention. It's actually quite difficult to kill a rose by pruning too hard, they can be pruned with a chainsaw!

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