Rose stems turning a woody colour.

[new gardener 1052]

Hi all,
I've been posting over last few weeks about planting roses, I got a DA lady of shalott shrub rose. Been in the ground a couple of weeks I notice some of the stems are turning a woody colour. When I planted it all the stems were a nice green colour.

Should I be worried?

ATB
Steve.

[Briony]

David Austin have a good helpline and I have had good advice from them in the past. I would try asking them.

TBH I would be a little worried, yes. Have they had enough water? Have they been planted where roses were grown before in the recent past?

[new gardener 1052]

Hi briony,
I can't say the same about there customer service I emailed them 2 weeks ago about the problem they have never emailed back.

I don't think roses have been grown there before we been here nearly 4 years and it was just a grassed area. Bit annoyed over the last few weeks I have bought 10 of there shrub roses

[AkionTotocha]

Are the stems turning brown from the bottom to the top (ground to the sky) or opposite? If it's from the top to the bottom it could be dieback, but if it's from the bottom to the top it could be the bush naturally turning more woody.

If the stems keep growing then I wouldn't worry unless the growth is diseased or damaged. The only thing is if it's dieback and it's very rapid you want to prune it out if it starts creeping to the main stem of the bush. Usually the plant will self-regulate and stop the dieback to just above a new shoot but sometimes that message doesn't go through and it keeps creeping. Though dieback in roses is usually darker brown..

If you can post pictures, then that might give a better idea of what's happening, of the whole bush and the affected areas

[flynch]

Pics would be useful. I'd try cut away a layer and see if they're still green underneath.

[new gardener 1052]

i would post up some pics but keep getting file failed

[AkionTotocha]

You can post them to another website and post a link if it helps?

[Briony]

I would try giving them a call, it might be old-fashioned but they will answer the phone

For the photos, you could try uploading them to Imgur then post the link here.

Some of my roses are in the process of dying because my neighbour sprayed a lot of weedkiller and even a small amount causes them to die. They are a few metres away from where it was used, so it just goes to show how bad that can be. Has anyone used weedkiller nearby?