Hamilton Gardens’ Roses to ‘Get the Chop’

More than 3500 roses at Hamilton Gardens will receive the chop next week when the annual Rogers Rose Garden’s maintenance programme begins.

The Gardens’ entire rose collection will be pruned before 150 cubic meters of mulch arrives on site for distribution throughout the rose beds.

Hamilton Gardens’ rose whisperer Alice Gwilliam says one of the challenges for the team is that each rose variety requires a specific pruning technique.

“This operation requires a significant level of skill and knowledge within the team, especially on the vast number of rose varieties we grow.

“Everything we do throughout the year culminates in the annual Pacific Rose Bowl Festival in November. It’s a science to ensure the roses are in full bloom exactly on time.”

The mulch blend is a closely guarded secret. Each year Ms Gwilliam subtly adjusts the blend based on the previous years growing results.

The public are invited along to the Gardens from Monday to watch the team tackle this large-scale event and Ms Gwilliam will be on-site to answer questions on rose cultivation. The entire gardening team will be involved and the main pruning is expected to take five days. The full operation including cultivating the soil, applying sheep pallets and mulching is expected to take two weeks.

In 2006, the Rogers Rose Garden received the Garden of Excellence Award from the World Federation of Rose Societies. The Garden annually hosts the Pacific Rose Bowl Festival and the New Zealand Rose of the Year competition.

ENDS

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