Gardeners share simple tip to make sure your roses grow back 'better' this year
Roses are a common flower in gardens all over the country, but they tend to grow best in warmer weather and won't flower until later in the year, meaning your plants might look a little sad at the moment.
Alan Titchmarsh explains how to correctly prune roses
Roses will grow back "quicker and better" if you do one simple thing by the end of March, according to gardeners.
Roses are loved by many and can be found in gardens across the country. They usually like the warm weather and don't flower until later on, so they might not look great right now.
But that doesn't mean nothing happens in the cold, and they still need care throughout the winter.
Gardeners can do something very helpful for your roses now to make sure they have the "better" flowers when they do bloom.
One of the best things to do is to put mulch around the bottom of the rose to keep it moist and full of food, reported the Mirror.
This good idea came up after a lady posted a photo of a sad rose in a pot on the Gardening UK Facebook page. She asked: "Any tips on looking after my mum's rose plant during the cold months? I've been taking off the damaged leaves, but not sure what else I can do."
People were quick to help her out, telling her not to worry because roses are strong and can get through winter.
They said she should put mulch in the pot now and then wait until March to cut the plant back well.
This should help it grow "quicker and better" when spring comes, according to one comment.
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One person advised: "Leave outside, after adding a layer of mulch till the pot is full. If accessible by rain do nothing more.
"Once February or March rolls around you can give the plant a prune. You can do this up until March."
Another added: "Don't panic, roses are very hardy. Mulch the base if you can, then at the end of February/beginning of March cut down to a third.
"Yes, this feels drastic but the flower will grow back quicker and better because of it."
Adding mulch to your roses helps to keep them moist so they don't need as much watering.
It also stops weeds from growing in rose beds and takes away moisture and nutrients from the soil.
You can buy a 100L bag of woodchip mulch from BandQ for £7.36, or a 9kg bag of straw mulch for £15.99 from the same shop.
Gardening expert Lee Burkhill, also known as the Garden Ninja, agreed with the advice. He said that roses should be pruned back by a third in early spring.
The only exception is climbing roses, which should always be pruned in autumn once the plant has finished flowering.