Dear Helen: Is it recommended to prune roses in winter? I鈥檇 like to get at least some of the plants tidied before spring.
R.L.
Among all the types of roses, the best candidates for winter pruning are the modern, repeat-flowering climbers. Ramblers, which have just one period of bloom, should be pruned in early summer, after they have finished flowering.
Most climbers that flower in waves through the summer and early autumn bloom most prolifically, on all parts of the canes, when the canes are trained as close as possible on the horizontal.
First look for dead, damaged or diseased growth to prune away. Then, if the climbing rose is a well established and thriving one, remove two or three of the oldest (thickest) canes at ground level.
Begin arranging the remaining canes in vase fashion, with tiers of canes evenly distributed over a trellis or other support on both sides of the plant鈥檚 centre. Remove any awkwardly placed or crossing growth. Once the chosen canes are arranged and tied to the support, cut away tip growth that extends beyond the support.
Finally, shorten side shoots growing from the arranged canes. Leave two or three growth buds on each shoot. This side growth will yield next summer鈥檚 flowers.
If any leaves remain on the plant, remove them. Clean the ground under and around the rose, cultivate lightly, and mulch with compost.
Prune shrub roses in late winter, ideally as nubs of growth along the canes show the first signs of swelling. Do check them now, though, and cut back any extra-long growth prone to being blown about and broken or otherwise damaged in winter weather. Remove any leaves remaining on all the roses in the garden.
Clean the ground of fallen leaves and debris, and mulch.
听
Dear Helen: My son鈥檚 favourite vegetable is carrots, but in 2018. I want to grow mainly vegetables that don鈥檛 require copious amounts of water. Are carrots very thirsty plants?
V.I.
I鈥檝e found carrots to be fairly water-thrifty, at least once they鈥檝e grown substantially enough to form roots that reach into cool, moist soil levels.
As they are developing from freshly germinated seedlings and until their roots elongate, carrots do require very regular watering in dry weather. Sowing early, while the soil is still moist, is helpful. I aim for a March seeding.
听
Dear Helen: In a column not long ago you described how to prevent rust fly damage to carrots by using floating row covering over seeded beds.
Why not simply mask the attractant scent of carrots by sowing green onions in between closely spaced rows of carrot seeds? This method has worked for me, and it gives me plenty of green onions while using no extra space.
A.J.
It鈥檚 true that the strong scent of onions can mask the odour and presence of carrots and so prevent the flies from being attracted to a carrot planting for egg laying. This dual planting worked for me in one of my Okanagan gardens, where the carrot rust fly populations were minimal.
Here in my Vancouver Island garden, the technique is not effective.
Populations of the pest are typically spotty. People gardening in areas not far from me have never had a rust fly problem in their unprotected carrots.
Other gardeners I鈥檝e spoken with have stopped growing carrots because of rust fly damage. They feel it鈥檚 too much trouble to place an insect barrier cover over their plantings. Actually, it鈥檚 quite simple. The cover makes for close to trouble-free growing of clean carrots.
It鈥檚 easy to hold the sides of a lightweight floating row cover down with boards, or to tuck them securely into the soil, leaving enough slack for the plant tops to develop.
I lift the cover off once or twice to weed and thin. Only a small portion needs lifting to harvest. Apart from that, watering in dry weather is all that鈥檚 needed.
Be aware that vulnerable crops can grow without pest visitations for years before being 鈥渄iscovered鈥� and damaged.
I grew bulb onions uncovered for over 20 years in my current garden with no problem. Then one year the planting started off fine and then the tops all fell over. There were onion fly maggots in every bulb.
The same is true of the leaf miners that create tunnelling in the foliage of beets and spinach. I cover the onions, beets and spinach now.