Thorn to be wild

Saturday 30 June 2012

If you'd like a hedge with a touch of character look no further than native Scots roses, whose white, pink or yellow flowers can add outstanding flourishes to any garden.

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Dave Allan

Rosa spinosissima (or pimpinellifolia) grows wild at the back of beaches and along cliffs. Near Bowmore on Islay, it grows naturally as a hedge – well worth copying. Half of my kitchen garden is bordered by these wonderfully undemanding plants. What a drift of flowering colour: the low-growing Old Yellow Scotch; its neighbouring brilliant-white pimpinellifolias, pink Mary Queen Of Scots and Falkland, and the subtle, bicoloured Single Cherry with its heady scent. Their all-too brief blossom makes them even more precious; not that I'd be without the repeat flowering of their close relative, Stanwell Perpetual.

These Scots roses, once known as Scotch, have been around for a long time. The 16th-century court physician, Rembert Dodoens, describes them in his Herbal in 1554: "Amongst the kindes of wilde Roses, there is founde a sorte whose shutes, twigges and branches are covered all over with thicke small thornie prickles. The flowers be small single and white, and of a very good savour."Thanks to Scottish nurseryman, Robert Brown, these wild forms were developed as garden plants that became popular during the first three decades of the 19th century. In 1793, Brown and his brother dug up some wild Scots roses from the Hill of Kinnoul, near Perth, to grow on in their nursery. After 10 years of selective breeding, they produced eight varieties that became breeding stock for other nurseries throughout Scotland and England.These old varieties were gradually supplanted by hybrids developed from newly imported China roses so that, by 1874, Shirley Hibberd, writing in The Amateur's Rose Book, said: "The [Old Scots] varieties are only to be met with in old gardens, as they are all quite out of fashion." Thirty years later, Gertrude Jekyll wrote: "Those who are interested in this class of Rose should inquire in the good old Scotch gardens, where no doubt fine forms still exist that have not come into trade."Although many of Brown's 200 cultivars have been lost, leading nurserymen still carry some Scots rose varieties, ranging in height from 0.5-1.5 metres with single or double petals in white, pink or yellow. As their origins suggest, they tolerate inhospitable conditions and require none of the time-consuming pampering of modern cultivars.Scots roses appreciate moist, free- draining soil where they will grow taller and be less prone to blackspot and powdery mildew, but they tolerate dry, gritty soil, a virtual absence of water and near-total neglect. Nonetheless, minimal attention is worthwhile and I do at least mulch them.The species make excellent hedging roses because they spread by suckers. As with all hedges, some pruning is required. Left unattended, the suckers would spread over a wide area, with fresh growth surrounding and partly concealing old woody stems. I've occasionally had to remove a pioneering bristly stem from one of my raised beds.If you're laidback about your rose hedge, you could let it gradually spread sideways and give it a perfunctory short back and sides with a hedge trimmer every autumn. After 15-20 years, if you can't bear the sight of it you could fell the entire hedge and, against all odds, it will put on clean, fresh growth in the spring.Minimal attention, though, will prevent such draconian treatment. As with most early-flowering shrubs, prune them immediately after flowering. The plants can then put on sufficient growth for next year's show. The crowns tend to become overcrowded, so thin out between a third and a quarter of the older stems, cutting them back to the base. You shouldn't need to shorten the stems; when choosing a variety check it grows to a suitable height. After thinning, you'll have an uncongested collection of vigorous young stems. As I sit in the garden, sipping a pint of chilled home brew, an added pleasure is watching the setting sun cast a wonderful glow on the gingery stems of the hedge's new growth.A final point: some suckers may start to spread more widely than you'd like. If you want to extend the hedge or plant a new one, use these suckers. Dig them out with a sharp spade, leaving approximately 30cm of root attached. The plant will strike more successfully if the root's tip is broken roughly, not cleanly, as with secateurs. Prepare a hole deep enough to accommodate the root system, water thoroughly and, by next spring, you'll have a young specimen ready for planting out. As with everything to do with Scots roses, it couldn't be easier.As the rose expert Peter Boyd says: "Scots roses are 'cheerful' little roses. They have a special character that is very appealing and to those who make their acquaintance, they are a delight and may become a passion."

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Thorn to be wild

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