Volume 14 Number 1 Incorporating Minutes of the 77th Meeting (AGM) of Plumstead Common Environment Group 16 November 2003 at St Marks with St Margaret’s Church

Dates for your Diary

Slade Ponds Work Days

The 2nd & 4th Sundays of the month, weather permitting, at 11am: Sunday 23 November
Sunday 14 December
Sunday 28 December
Sunday 11 January
Sunday 25 January
All members welcome to join Pond Group on any work day.
Contact: Chris Day 8473 5932.

Nature Reserve Gardening Group

Location: the wooded ravine behind Blendon Terrace. Work sessions usually take place on Tuesdays from 10.30 am or on Sundays at 11am. Please contact JC (8854 5167) if you can join in on any given Tuesday, or Annaclaire Purnell and Rob Shaw regarding Sundays (8317 6607).

Concert St Mark with St Margaret Church, 7.30pm,

Sat 29 November
Handel and Vaughan Williams

Blackheath Ramblers Walk

Sunday 7 December 10.57
(Woolwich Arsenal train 10.22)
A circular morning walk of about 5 miles on the Hoo Peninsula
For further details see p.7 of Newsletter

New Year Walk with Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust

10:30am Sunday 4th January 2004
Meet at Abbey Wood Station
The walk begins at Lesnes Abbey, through Bostall Woods, East Wickham Open Space, Woodlands Farm, Oxleas Woods and ends at the Castle. People can join at any point during the walk but we are unable to give an estimate of the time we will be at any one point on the route. Do come along!

PCEG Party

8 pm, Saturday 10 January
8 Blendon Terrace
Plumstead Common
Please let JC know if you are coming (8854 5167). As always, a bottle and plate of something nice would be most welcome.

Date of the next PCEG Meeting

Saturday 24 January
3-5pm St Mark with St Margaret’s Church Hall - Old Mill Road, past the Old Mill and Prince Albert pubs.

Projected dates for PCEG
meetings in 2004:-
Saturday 24 January
Sunday 28 March
Sunday 23 May
Sunday 11 July
Sunday 26 September
Sunday 14 November

News Items

Wildlife Sightings

On 10 November JC saw a sizeable flock of sparrows darting in and out of the Bowling Green hedge; also a similar number of long tailed tits on a neighbour’s hawthorn tree.
On 24 November JC, Erica Atkins, Lynn McCalla and Bob Gillespie (Parks Manager) saw a goldfinch on Winn’s Common.

Angela Saunders

Assistant Head Teacher of Plumstead Manor School writes: “The school is launching its own website soon: www.plumsteadmanor.com
It will have links to the PCEG website. The educational pack for secondary and primary schools [part of the ‘Our Common Story' project] will be put onto a link with the introduction, and there will be a facility to do an adobe download of the resources. We can also put onto the site extracts from the book ‘Our Common Story' when ready, to wet people's appetites! At present the website has just a holding page on view so watch the space for developments.
Nick Day pointed out to members that it would be important for a contract to be drawn up between PCEG and the school with regards to the website, to make sure any money we contribute is spent appropriately. Alex Cowdell added that we should pay by the page (ie by results), rather than by the hour.

Financial Report

Lynn McCalla (see separate sheet at end of Newsletter).
Tom Bell proposed that we set up a Standing Order facility for membership renewal. This will be looked at for November 2004.

Chair’s Report

JC began by thanking, as always, all those dedicated members who have once again contributed so much during the year. Without them we would be nothing! Paid up members now number 225, but the core group of active members is still quite small and we need continually to be on the lookout for more people who can actually get involved.

The coming year will be crucial for the Group because significant changes will be taking place and very important decisions have to be made. JC told the meeting that this would be her final year as Chair (if confirmed again!) – and Lynn McCalla’s as Treasurer. It was also possible that Anji Petersen would not want to continue as Vice Chair for more than another year.

JC explained that she and Alex have decided to re-locate to New Zealand in July 2005, but made it clear that even if they hadn’t made this decision, she would still want to give up the Chair, after 12 years! We would therefore have a year to restructure the Group, and her strong desire was to leave it in a good state for the next phase of its development. PCEG is needed in this area more than ever!

Having taken soundings and discussed the matter with Anji Petersen and others, it seemed to us that the best – indeed possibly the only way forward, given that the role of Chair in its present form is so time consuming – was to elect a committee of four members to run the Group. JC would, as stated, be prepared to be Chair of that committee for one year, and Anji was happy to remain as Vice Chair during that period. The Treasurer would not be a member of the committee, since its function would be to take on the various aspects of the Chair's role. The position of Chair, from November 2004, would not therefore be an onerous one, but merely the chair of the committee, who together would be responsible for running the Group.

During the coming year the committee would be working out how to arrange a smooth handover next November and there would be an item on the Agenda at each Group meeting about this. So this would be the time for members to participate in creating the future shape of the Group. JC wanted to encourage as many members as possible to try and attend meetings. It would be necessary to amend the PCEG Constitution to clarify this new structure. At the moment there is nothing in it about how the Group is run – it is more of a vision statement. This is one of the aspects the committee would consider and bring back to a full Group meeting.
There are also all sorts of practical decisions to do with future storage of PCEG property and files which have been kept in Cowdells’ loft up till now.

Regarding the Treasurer’s post, we were looking for someone to shadow Lynn McCalla in the coming year, with a view to taking over her job next November, or earlier if events move on – for Lynn has decided to re-locate to Switzerland. In any case she wanted to be relieved of responsibility for money coming in from the book ‘Our Common Story’ next year.

JC went on to tell members about some major changes afoot regarding Plumstead/Winn’s Common, which will also affect the Group. As a result of her continuing concerns about the management and maintenance of Plumstead Common, together with arson, vandalism, litter, graffiti and anti-social behaviour (!), JC had a meeting on 24 September with Gurmel Singh-Kandola, Director of Public Services (Greenwich Council) at which a new and radical way forward was discussed. This was to set up a pilot project for Plumstead/Winn’s Common, whose legacy would be that members of PCEG in future will be able to work directly in partnership with council officers to make improvements in the way things are done on the Common, and to address security problems. We could for the first time have real influence and get in place what we agree is needed.

JC had told the Director that she had only one more year, but would like to be involved in setting the pilot in motion. She had spoken to several PCEG members with particular expertise who have expressed a keen interest and willingness to apply those skills to the project. And PCEG members as a whole will have an opportunity, through the bi-monthly meetings, to contribute. So again, it will be important for those who want their voice to be heard to attend. These new ideas should certainly be a great incentive!

Zoe Elford wondered if there were any similar partnership structures in other London boroughs, from which we could learn. Barbara Fitch was sceptical as to whether it would work, and how the Council would deliver. She was very critical of Clean Sweep (and Danny Nicol also has criticisms) with regards to a dangerous tree in Irwin Avenue which she had brought to their attention; when action was eventually taken it was unsatisfactory. Rob Poole explained that street trees come under the remit of the Highways Department and are not really the responsibility of Clean Sweep.
JC’s response was that it would be up to PCEG to make sure the new partnership does work!

JC asked for members’ approval of the pilot project and new partnership with the Council. This was enthusiastically endorsed.
She then asked if members supported the proposed new structure for the Group. That was also approved. So we have a new way ahead of us!

Up-date: On 21 November JC attended a further meeting with Gurmel Singh-Kandola and Alan Pett, Parks Security & Education Manager. It was confirmed that we are developing a genuine partnership with exciting initiatives and a holistic approach. The aim is better management of the Common, as well as greater use of it (“Reclaim your Common”!), with community involvement. All ideas are welcome! It is clear that the pilot scheme will be up and running a lot more quickly than JC imagined – early in the New Year – but the intention is that its legacy will extend long beyond the end of the three month trial period.

Election Results

PCEG Committee
Chair Julia Cowdell
Vice Chair Anji Petersen
Nick Day
NB Although Erica Atkins was elected on to the Committee she would prefer to help in other ways, so this post is vacant at time of writing.

Treasurer: Lynn McCalla continues, hopefully for one more year.
Assistant Treasurer: Bob Carlisle

Conservation Area Secretary:
Danny Nicol

Publicity: Nick Day

Delivery of Newsletters
Cowdells
Anji Petersen
Lynn McCalla
Roger Taylor
Shirley Newton
Erica Atkins
Peta McMorran
Cameron McMorran
Matthew Skillen
Doreen Goodfellow
Viv Bissett
Zoe Elford
Audrey Deakin

Telephoning members with reminders of meetings
Lynn McCalla
Roger Taylor
Shirley Newton
Annaclaire Purnell
Zoe Elford

Recycling Rota and monitoring of bins: Christine Smith
Recycling Rota Duty
Monday Amorel Kennedy
Kate Chowdhry

Tuesday Roger Taylor
Wednesday Shirley Newton

Thursday Erica Atkins
Friday Viv Bissett

Saturday Christine Smith

Sunday Amorel Kennedy

Graffiti Removal Group
Co-ordinator: Anji Petersen
Shirley Newton
Bryants
Anette Petersen
Scofields
Bob Carlisle
Cowdells
Erica Atkins Caroline Hume
Danny Nicol
Days
Jason Ward
More members are always needed.
Please phone Anji Petersen if you can join in.

Events

Make Merry
PCEG Plant Stall Organiser
Erica Atkins

PCEG Co-ordinators
Anji & Anette Petersen
Nick Day

Woodlands Farm Open Days
Nick & Chrissie Day

Police Sector Group Meetings
Roger Taylor
Anji/Anette Petersen


Greenwich Wildlife Advisory Group (GWAG)
Julia Cowdell
Shirley Newton
Roger Taylor

Winn's Common Watch
John & Teresa Bryant
Diana Ireland

Nature Reserve Gardening Group
Annaclaire Purnell & Rob Shaw
Cowdells
Linda Armstrong
Kate Chowdhry
Erica Atkins

Slade Ponds Group
Co-ordinator: Chris Day
Rob Poole
Barbara Fitch
Viv & Bruce Bissett
Ray & Josephine Beer
Tim Simpson
Jason Ward
Peter & Juliette Long (jnrs)

Useful Council and other Telephone Numbers

Clean Sweep 8921 4661

Parks Hotline 8856 0100

Parks & Open Spaces 8856 2232
Jeremy Shearmur
Alan Pett
Larry Blake 8921 1674

Waste Services
Refuse, street sweeping 8921 4647/8

Enforcement
Tony Brock 8921 6871
Rob Poole 8921 4520

Recycling 8921 4509
Graffiti Hotline
Cheryl Sushams 8921 6881
Fax 8921 4503

Abandoned Vehicles
Dave Collins 8921 5703

The Mercury - Distribution:
Christine Edwards 01322 419426
Sylvia Edwards (wkends) 8312 1501

Plumstead Police Station 8855 1212
Police Sector Office 8284 9602

Reports

Our Common Story

JC reports: Work is underway to prepare the book for its 2nd edition. It has been decided this time - over two years since the exhibition - to make the theme that of saving the Common for the people, giving emphasis to John de Morgan and the Plumstead Riots, as well as the efforts of the Plumstead Society in the 1970’s and PCEG today. The final pages of the book will therefore be brought to the beginning, and we hope to have some additional material. This means we will hope to include 4 extra pages, at a cost of £8,700.0 for 2,000 copies. This could put considerable strain on Group funds. However, with membership renewals and our recycling cheque from the Council due we should be able to manage. Then once money from book sales starts coming in, we’ll be well on our way to having a healthy balance again. Anji Petersen suggested that we can always apply for a grant(s), from the Council (Greenwich Pride) if funds are low, for routine PCEG projects such as graffiti removal.
The book will be available for sale at the Make Merry in May, with hopefully a launch in Feb/March, to co-incide with the end of the Plumstead Common pilot project. Members should feel free to collect names and contact details of people wanting to order a copy. These can be passed on to JC.

Planning Issues

Danny Nicol writes:
Informing PCEG: The Council Leader has written, agreeing that PCEG “should be contacted as a matter of course when an application affects [our] area”. The Planning Department has reminded all officers to consult PCEG when planning applications affect the Conservation Area.
Links Building: The owner of the upper floors has replaced the original windows with uPVC ones, without asking the local authority’s permission, which is necessary in the case of a listed building. Danny has written to the Council’s Conservation Officer and JC telephoned the principal planning enforcement officer who said the new windows may have to be replaced. Danny has also written to English Heritage asking for advice.
Manthorp Road: The Council wants to sell of a piece of open land for housing. Danny has written with PCEG’s objections, quoting the local councillors who have said that the land - which has mature trees on it - is a “green lung” in a road which otherwise has no trees. The Council has now replied, stating that it will “fully consider” our objections before deciding.
The Ship: Erica Atkins had talked to a man who was measuring the building’s windows, and he told her that the owner has now reverted to the idea of having a restaurant there, since Plumstead is “up and coming”. This will necessitate a fresh planning application.
120 Plumstead Common Road: This is the rather grand house on the right-hand corner of Plum Lane and Plumstead Common Road, before the descent into The Dip. There is a planning application to build two new houses in the back garden. The meeting voted to object to the grant of planning permission, since this backland development will be at the end of a historic row of houses, and will cause parking and traffic problems in Plum Lane.

In praise of Dothill

Danny Nicol rhapsodises: The old allotments on the slope of Shrewsbury Park - also known as Dothill - underwent a welcome transformation this year. After the allotment holders ended their activities some years ago, the site became dominated by brambles. Great for blackberries - poor for diversity of flora. Then, last winter, a troupe of council workers, ably led by Rob Poole, came to transform the site with the aid of the Forestry Commission and local helpers. The brambles were bulldozed so that, though still much apparent, they no longer rule the roost. Trees were planted to make a woodland for the future.

Clearing the brambles allowed a wider range of plants to thrive. In high summer, the slope is pink with rosebay willowherb and another pink plant. Particularly enchanting are those plants which bear witness to Dothill’s history as an allotment site: a range of garden plants have “gone native”. In early summer, there is a generous clump of lupins. Later on, blue irises appear. Later still, decorative grasses come to the fore. Some shrubs too remind us of Dothill’s days of domestication: a double row of rugosa roses, which perhaps marked out someone’s sheltered allotment leisure-garden. I have often wondered whether to bring my deck-chair and coffee flask up there for a nice sit. And then there’s a huge, floriforous and perfectly spherical buddlija bush. Plainly no-one had told this buddlija it was meant to be a messy shrub. It was honey-scented and covered in butterflies from mid to late summer.

In addition the bird life is fantastic. At the foot of Dothill, where many trees are already mature, I have seen quantities of jays - lovely in their brown and blue feathers - green parakeets who escaped from domesticity and adapted, and numerous tits as well. This is quite unlike the limited birdlife in my nearby, heavily-cat-patrolled garden; it’s more like being in an aviary.

Yes of course there is vandalism. The new bench has been sprayed with yellow paint. Someone has ripped off the Forestry Commission signs at the entrance of the piece of land. And there is a burnt-out car which someone has sprayed with yellow paint. Yes, even the vandalism gets vandalised! But no amount of testosterone-charged nastiness can mar Dothill’s natural beauty, and I think that’s a reason to be cheerful about many of the green spaces in Plumstead.

Walk: Sunday 7 December

If anyone is interested in walking, and in possibly joining Blackheath Ramblers, Danny Nicol is leading his first walk for the Blackheath group, meeting at Higham station, Kent. 10.57 (Woolwich Arsenal train 10.22). A circular morning walk of about 5 miles on the Hoo Peninsula (scene of Pip’s upbringing in “Great Expectations”) at a comfortable pace, via Church Street and Higham Marshes to the Thames. This is not chocolate-boxy Kent but has a bleak fascination. Good bird-watching. Optional lunch in Lower Higham. Contact Danny Nicol.

“

Time to Listen” meeting

on 18 November (with Greenwich councillors and Council officers) was attended by Patience Carlisle, Barbara Fitch, Caroline Hume and Danny Nicol. The council officer in charge of Clean Sweep made the astonishing claim that that they successfully resolve 95% of complaints received. Barbara complained about Clean Sweep’s rotten performance when it came to dealing with a sickly tree in front of her house, and Danny said he’d received promises about cleaning up graffiti in Lenton Path (an alleyway near his home) and removing a swastika from the rugby club door, and these promises had been broken. It would be better for the Council to be honest: if it hasn’t got the resources for a good service, it should say so. Other members of the public nearer Woolwich (perhaps on council estates) were happy with the service - so there seem to be inequalities here. Cllr John Fahy said that the Council could easily spend another £5m on Clean Sweep, but then people would complain of too much council tax; he said if only we had a PCEG in every locality, things would be better. Danny says: “I am very unflattered by John Fahy’s flattery - because it clearly implies that PCEG does the Council’s job for it. To my mind the problem stems from the imbalance between public spending and private spending in Britain as a whole. I cannot see things improving markedly unless the country rethinks its attitude to public spending, and that would necessitate progressive taxation, rather than the council tax, to finance it.”

Blendon Tce. Nature Reserve

JC writes: We had a very useful Group work session on 19 October, during which JC, Anji Petersen and Annaclaire Purnell pruned back the boundary hedgerow while Alex Cowdell, Bob Carlisle and Rob Shaw cleared dumped rubbish from down in the nature reserve, strengthened the chestnut paling fence using pruned sycamore branches from vandalised trees and planted some young oaks, hazels and an ash tree. Cowdells subsequently planted two beeches, a prunus and a rosa rugosa, given by Monica Meeneghan.
Rob Shaw told members that he and
Annaclaire have recently been finding 2-litre coke bottles full of cooking fat in the nature reserve – on one occasion as many as 15 bottles! It was suggested this might be from a restaurant…? We will certainly be trying to get to the bottom of it.

Plumstead/ Winns Common

JC writes: October was the month of fly tips: the first, tons of builders’ rubble, was dumped in the road at Blendon Terrace, to the astonishment of local residents. Then, over the next few days/weeks, a series of giant ‘mole hills’, five in all, appeared on the Common at Blendon Terrace (near the Adventure Playground) and St Margaret’s Grove. Finally on 23 October another truck load of builders’ rubble was dumped on the Common near the Adventure Playground. Plumstead Common was not the only place in the borough targeted during an epidemic of fly tipping. This sort of enviro-crime is becoming an almost common occurrence now that there is a new environmental tax to be paid for the disposal of such waste. The vehicles involved either have false number plates, or are registered to a post office box number – so the offenders are extremely difficult to trace. Those who do get prosecuted tend to be given a fine that doesn’t begin to match what it costs the Council to clear up after them – and is less even than the tax they should be paying. There is therefore a nice incentive for them to continue committing these appalling offences. Very depressing!

Also depressing, even heartbreaking, was to see the Council tree gang on 20 November felling the beautiful Lombardy poplar by the Adventure Playground fence. As reported in the last Newsletter, this tree was extensively fired by kids in the summer. If it had been located in woodland it could have been left, where it may well have recovered. But because of its location by the Adventure Playground and a very public part of the Common, the risk of it falling during high winds was thought to be too great. Another victory for kids who have no ability, it seems, to understand the consequences of their mindless actions. They call their arson ‘blazing’ – and it’s what you do for a laugh!

It is very gratifying, therefore, that the Parks Outreach/Education Liaison Officer, Jonathan Bangs, has been working on a citizen education project with real insight. He has prepared a series of lesson plans for both primary and secondary schools. JC has seen a draft copy and is very impressed at the way in which he brings to young people’s attention the consequences, the negative cycle of events, that result from what they thought was a laugh, or ‘cool.’ He outlines the effects on other users of the parks, including animals, as well as the huge amounts of money it costs the Council in vandalism, leading to a poorer environment for everybody. He also comes up with positive ways in which young people can give voice to their ideas, learning where necessary how to compromise. For primary school children he suggests scenarios which can be acted out in class, and he includes notes for teachers. We must hope that this material reaches all schools in the borough as soon as possible, with a requirement that teachers bring the subject of responsible citizenship into the daily life of the school.

Slade Ponds

Chris Day writes: Our small but extremely reliable and responsible group of pond-pickers have continued to meet throughout the year on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. A very big thank you to all of them, and to those members who have joined us on an occasional basis.

The year has been reasonably uneventful and because of our small numbers we seem to have worked hard to maintain the status quo rather than develop the site. The late spring saw quite a lot of vandalism, including the frustratingly regular dumping of bales of newspapers in and around the pond. After weeks of follow-up the offenders were identified and duly sacked by the Mercury - a good result, and very satisfying to receive so much support from the Mercury's distribution team. More recently six flagstones have been dislodged from the holding pond and are currently awaiting replacement. There is also evidence of drug taking.

Water levels during the dry summer were exceptionally low, allowing greater access to the reed-bed. The resident wildlife seem to have survived well, despite many reported incidents of stone throwing earlier in the year. There have been frogs, fish, a newt, the three faithful moorhens and usually seven mallards. The terrapin has also survived the year and was last seen only one week ago basking in the late autumn sunshine. Less popular with the local residents are the rats, but the pond population appears to be fairly constant and not necessarily increasing. Two dead pike were also found during the summer, cause of death unknown!

General feed-back from the public is very good, but a resident has complained recently that the length of time our bagged rubbish is left awaiting collection by the council is a major factor in the rise of the rat population. An attempt was made to reassure her and contact made with Larry Blake (Parks). Larry has since been very supportive and ensured that the collection is made on the same day as our visit. Unfortunately another resident appears to have got into the habit of adding bags to our collection and has on two occasions missed Larry's collection time; their rubbish therefore remains on site after PCEG’s has been removed - and sadly we get the blame.

Little else to say other than to extend a warm welcome to anyone who would like to join our Sunday pond jaunts; they can be very enjoyable!

Graffiti Removal

Anji Petersen writes: On Saturday 1st November Anette Petersen, Danny Nicol and I met at the yard and went to the garages at Heavitree Close. We painted out graffiti on the garage doors and nearby walls. Ros Scofield then joined us and we all went to the Rugby club to remove marker pen scrawls and a reverse swastika sprayed on the side door. Danny had reported the “racist” graffiti to the council but over a week later it was still there for us to remove. (The council’s target is that offensive/ racist graffiti should be inspected and removed within 24 hours and the rest within 7 days!) Many thanks to those who turned up to help that morning.

In the first week of November, in the middle of the afternoon, Danny spotted the rugby club covered on two sides with large black spray paint graffiti tags. Bricks walls in Lenton Path and Chestnut Rise had also been attacked. A local businessman contacted JC and offered a £250 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the offenders. JC and Nick Day met with a reporter and photographer from the Mercury and a session, at which we were to be joined by students from Plumstead Manor School, was organised to paint out the graffiti on Saturday 22nd November. This unfortunately had to be cancelled, due to rain. Another date will be set as soon as possible.

JC adds: As a result of this graffiti incident, Plumstead Manor School took the opportunity of reminding their students that graffiti and litter are unacceptable. The tannoy system was used daily for a week for this purpose and Angela Saunders, Assistant Head Teacher, brought up the subject at junior assemblies (ages 11-14). More of this please!

Any Other Business

Andrew & Susan Bullivant appealed to members to consider joining The Woodlands Farm Trust. An AGM is due to take place before February 2004.
There are several important issues with environmental implications awaiting decision and it is vital that people with the environment at heart are well represented in the organisation.
Phone 020 8319 8900, email woodlandsft@aol.com or visit their website: www.thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org


A very Happy Christmas and New Year to you all! JC/25/11/03

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Gardening Tips

by Monica Meeneghan
November 2003

Pots. Thank you once again for all the pots you have brought me.I now have plenty for the time being, especially 3 inch ones and smaller. If anyone needs some please get in touch.

Moving Trees and shrubs. Do it now if you can. It must be done by March but weather conditions are often too frosty after Christmas.

Planting Roses. Details of planting trees or shrubs in previous tips apply also to roses. If dry make sure the roots are moist by plunging them into a bucket of water for an hour or two. Ensure the ground is moist but if soaking wet add some dry compost around the roots. Roses are grafted on to rootstocks. The graft is recognisable by a bulge near the base of the bush and needs to be about 1 inch (2.5cm) below soil level when planted. Place a cane across the top of the planting hole to guide its position.

General Pruning principles. The main aim is to encourage healthy, open bushes with good air circulation around them. This is initially done by cutting out weak, diseased or crossing branches. Before planting, cut back to sound areas any damaged or bruised roots or shoots and by a third any thick long roots with no fibrous growth around their sides. Make clean cuts with sharp secateurs. At the appropriate time after planting prune the top growth by cutting back to just above a healthy, dormant bud. Allow water to run off by slanting the cut away from the bud. Choose a bud that will grow in the position and direction that you want the new shoot to be, usually outward facing. With some varieties with drooping habits you may want inward facing ones. If no bud is visible make the

cut where you would want a shoot as a bud may soon appear. In this situation remove any stubs left above new shoots later as these will die back and encourage disease. Do not prune during frosty weather. Opinions differ but March is widely advocated as the best time to prune most rose groups in order to avoid new young growth taking place too early as this is likely to be damaged by frost. There is however danger of long stems of some groups causing damage or death to the shrub due to it rocking in heavy winds. These are best pruned in Autumn. (See tips on a later date). After heavy winds check that the shrubs have not become loose in the soil. If they have, draw the soil close up around them again filling in any holes that have developed and make firm. NB. Pruning may be detrimental if the soil is not maintained in a fertile enough condition to enable strong new growth.

Newly planted Roses Some principles of pruning newly planted bushes are different from established ones as the aim in the first year is to concentrate upon developing a strong root system rather than flowers. Methods and the pruning of specific groups of roses will be described in later tips.

Botanic Name
Rugo'sus,-a,-um=wrinkled, ie.rugose eg Rosa rugosa.

What do you know 2003? What is a rootstock?

September Answer. Standard when coupled with the word tree or shrub refers to a length of about 3-6 ft of clear stem between ground level and the first branches. In the case of shrubs this is as a result of training.