Alan Titchmarsh’s trick to make roses bloom for free

Alan Titchmarsh has shared a clever trick for garden enthusiasts to grow their own rose bushes without spending a penny. The gardening expert shared his best advice in a video for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine.

He said: “Roses remain one of the most popular garden flowers, if not the most popular, coming in all shapes and sizes. Shrub roses, bush, floribunda, hybrid tea, climbers, climbers, you name it, we have it.

“They cost quite a bit to buy, especially if they are grown in containers. Of course, you can plant them bare root in the fall, between November and March.”

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But Alan then revealed an alternative method of growing roses that won’t cost gardeners a penny by using cuttings from existing bushes.

He said: “What you can also do is take cuttings and root your own. A benefit, no cupping or any cupping to be done does not come from a root, but from the variety itself.

“I quite like to take rose cuttings in the fall around October, about a meter long, and put them in a slotted trench in the garden. But nothing can stop you in the heat of summer, as long as you don’t let them dry out. out, to take some cuttings with a shoot tip now”.

For best results when cutting cuttings, Alan recommends cutting just above a leaf joint to ensure new shoots emerge directly from that point, rather than leaving behind a clump that may die back.

When planted, these cuttings can grow into a rose bush, meaning you can have a beautiful garden for free.

Sharing how to prepare cuttings for planting, Alan added that rose cuttings “aren’t the most comfortable things to prepare” because the thorns have to be removed. This may take some time, but it is necessary so that the thorns do not start to rot.

After removing the thorns, you can start preparing the cuttings for planting. Alan said: “Now we can prepare it by removing the flower from the top. Now cut it just above a leaf. And then at the bottom, the bottom strip of that bottom leaf. Where the leaf joint was, make the bottom cut just below it. .”

And when it’s time to plant the cuttings, Alan recommends dipping the stem in water and a sprinkling of hormone rooting powder. The cutting should then be buried at least half its length so that only the top leaves stick out.

The plants will begin to root by late summer and should be kept somewhere sheltered as they do not need heat. Alan recommends waiting a year before taking cuttings out of pots and planting them in the garden.

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