Bringing back the roses

Thursday 26 June, 2025

by Adrian Miles, Newburgh gardener

Newburgh Hidden Gardens including the Memorial Garden and a series of other lovely, private gardens, will be open to visitors on Sunday 29 June 2025, 12 - 5pm

More details about the open day here

Read on for Adrian’s fascinating article which, as well as detailing the Newburgh Memorial Garden improvement project, offers some excellent advice on achieving success with roses. The article includes.

Newburgh Memorial Garden

A warm June evening in 2025 - I wandered in to our Memorial Garden and just sat and looked at the view.  Thousands and thousands of roses all in full bloom.  What a sight.  There was a rare sense of pride that washed over me.  But it wasn’t always like this - let’s step back a few years.

2020 - do you remember that year? When much of the world came to a stand still with people confined to their homes and our movements restricted.  I was one of the lucky ones.  As a gardener by profession I was in a category allowed to go about my daily business relatively unrestricted.  Private gardens had a  boost as more people turned their attentions to their own gardens - were they lucky enough to have such a space.  But it did mean that local authority amenity areas such as parks suffered, as they could no longer be maintained.

Newburgh Memorial Rose Garden

Rose garden and war memorial

Newburgh Memorial Garden Volunteers

Newburgh Memorial Rose Garden

The roses in full bloom

Newburgh Memorial Garden

Conditions before work started

Newburgh Memorial Garden

The lower terrace

Rose renovation at Newburgh Memorial Garden

Newburgh Memorial Garden

Before...

{"wrapAround":true,"fullscreen":true,"parallax":true,"adaptiveHeight":true,"imagesLoaded":true,"draggable":false}

The Memorial Garden - a history

In a prominent position at the West end of our high street is our Memorial statue, set in a garden comprised of grassed areas with shrub and seasonal flower beds.  Newburgh - a small town of just over 2000 with a history stretching from the Toronesian Abbey at the East end of the town founded in 1191, back to the Mugdrum Estate at the West. Fishing, quarrying, fruit growing and weaving have been the mainstay of the town’s most industrial years along with the now long-gone linoleum factory  that dominated the riverside from 1891 to 1978 and employed 700 people at its peak.  My neighbouring street is ‘Shuttlefield Street’ and this gives you some indication of one of those industries where the upper quarters were the living area and the downstairs the loom shops.

The land now occupied by the Memorial Garden was a copse at the west end of the High Street, sandwiched between the main Perth Road and Shuttlefield Street with an area bordering the west side of the triangle later becoming the official Bowling Green. It belonged to Mugdrum Estate and in around 1920, the land was gifted to the people along with a number of other areas such as what is now the Bowling Green and the adjoining Park. That same year saw the demolition of numbers 1 and 2 Shuttlefield Street (a cycle shop and thatched cottage) to make space for the Victory Fountain. The fountain was gifted to the town  by the owner of the Linoleum works - the Tayside Floorcloth Company - Mr Thomas Grieg.  This gentleman was highly regarded within the community as he was something of a philanthropist and looked after his workforce.  The Tayside institute was provided by Mr Grieg as the workers’ canteen as well as a meeting house, rooms for social and leisure activities as well as a billiard table etc.

The Memorial within the garden was unveiled in 1923.  The soldier who modelled for the statue on the plinth was one David Pitkethly, a local lad who was sent back from the front after suffering  poisoning from mustard gas.  He never received a de-mob suit in case he was able to re-join the front, so unusually he retained his uniform and was modelled thus. 

In the 1980s, the garden was re-vamped by the then North East Fife District Counci, with work including sloping areas of planted beds removed and replaced by stone walls to give a terraced effect.  The majority of the formal shrub bedding including some standard roses, was removed along with a set of now unsightly yew trees that had grown nearly as tall as the Memorial statue.  Some planting was done including two weeping cherries on the lower lawn and a mass planting of shrub roses in two blocks of white and yellow at the rear of the garden - some of these remain and are the one of the aspects of our renovation project.

Sadly the planned wheelchair access in the south-west corner never came to be as later improvements were dropped with the merger into the larger authority of Fife Council.

Newburgh Memorial Garden in 2020

Back to more recent times now and walking past the Memorial Garden most evenings on my way home in 2020 I noted how the empty flower beds were becoming weed infested.  The gates were always kept closed, something of a barrier borne out of that sense of respect handed down through generations.  But one evening I overcame my sense of intruding and wandered in.  There was an old bed of roses on the far side of the garden, mostly hidden from passers-by.  They numbered around 70 but were in a very poor state, many dead and those that were alive had disease and much dead material within.  On closer inspection there was evidence of herbicide damage and many weeds.  It was obvious that some time and effort was required if they were to be salvaged.  It was a sad sight and gave me much food for thought.

In my profession at that time I was working alongside a veteran and was also raising money for the Scottish Veteran’s Residences through Open Gardens and various gardening related talks. It was July there were only 4 months to go before the Memorial Service.

Making a start

 So one evening I began to clear the weed-infested beds.  My efforts were soon noticed and a neighbour joined me (restrictions allowing).  The beds were soon all clear and my attention turned to the roses.  This was under the care of Fife Council so the next job was to ensure all interested parties were on board, that we had their approval and most of all we weren’t treading on anyone’s sensitivities.

There were several wide borders left as mowing gutters beside the grassed areas; on one lower lawn area these were 3ft wide with nothing in them and only two half-dead weeping cherries to grace it.  These spaces were crying out for planting.  It is worth noting at this time that Newburgh has one of only two ‘rose’ gardens maintained by Fife Council and that the town had lost all its other areas of formal planting.  This would be an ideal area for new roses to be planted: open, sunny, protected from grazers and a prominent position within the town. The iron railings also offered the opportunity for climbing and rambling varieties.

Garnering Support

Both Fife Council and the Royal British Legion were contacted, and meetings arranged on site with local councillors too.  The Community Council was approached for their approval and input as well as the local Minister.  I sought permission from Fife Council to renovate the old roses and this was granted.

As restrictions lifted we were able to get a group of ten people to tackle the old rose bed by clearing all the dead and diseased material away.  Our Minister was there too and I must admit that her repertoire of songs was one probably not heard in many ecumenical circles! The council kindly agreed to uplift all our prunings.

 We now have a good group of about 15 volunteers who come and assist in the garden.

All About The Roses

Adding new roses
The most important criteria were the ability to withstand the local weather conditions, robust constitution and fragrance.  Most are repeat flowering.  I prefer ‘Old’ roses so we have Gallicas, a Damask, Hybrid Perpetuals, Portlands and Bourbons.  Some modern roses have been added such as David Austin’s ‘English’ roses as well as some Hybrid Musks.  Many of the simpler flowers are magnets for pollinators.

Several ramblers and climbers have also been added and are trained along the railings.  Thornless near the pavement and repeat flowering where possible.  This year, two of the formal annual beds were turned over to roses as permanent planting.

The existing roses
These have been renovated over a number of years - slowly taking out the oldest stems in order to promote replacement with new.  This has worked well in conjunction with their feeding and mulching.  There were only two different varieties and their provenance is not known despite my best efforts.  One variety suffers bad gall disease and only time will tell if we have done enough to secure their long-term future.

Donated roses
20 roses - mostly from our local church - where they used to snag the brides! All have succeeded.

Rose Care Tips

They are cared for by the community in terms of pruning, mulching, feeding and dead-heading.  Other tasks we take on are the weeding of all the beds, including the 4 annual beds provided by the Council as well as all the edging that has to be done manually. I will give you my take on their basic care which has worked very well for us here and the roses are thriving.

 All the roses have been planted bare-root, usually in February.  This offers the best choice from the suppliers in terms of variety - and get your order in early.  Most of the varieties I have chosen are fairly common and not difficult to source.

They get planted as soon as possible after delivery or placed in a large bucket and topped up with compost to prevent the roots drying.  A hole is dug that allows the roots to sit without cramping, a planting mix of 1/3 organic material and 2/3 soil with a small handful of bonemeal mixed into the bottom layer.  Roses are root and stem pruned and watered in.  Personally I find a whole can of water making a mud pie after backfilling, and a slight jiggle up and down gets and air out, then top-up when the water has soaked in.  The crown should be an inch to 2 inches below the soil level. 

I then top dress with a handful of Blood Fish and Bone and cover this with an inch of organic mulch such as composted manure.  By the time the soil warms and the fertiliser is broken down by micro-organisms the plants are starting to grow and the food is ready for them to take up.

Mulching the roses is essential, keeps the moisture in, suppresses the weeds and feeds the soil.  It’s done every year with composted manure.  We avoid digging any of the soil around the roses to avoid root disturbance - weeds are hand picked and we’ve got them down to a minimum now.

Watering - we don’t water the roses - there is no supply here.  Get them well established, well mulched and most unlikely you will need to.  I’m very much in line with the operandus modi of the late and great Beth Chatto on this one!

Once established they are fed twice a year with aforementioned fertiliser, once in early spring with mulch applied on top, once after the first flush of flowers in late June, early July.  They receive no sprays so choose your varieties for disease resistance and mush the greenfly off by hand as you see them!

It’s a bit of an open site so wind-rock can occur. Autumn pruning assists here and they are visited in the spring again.  The garden has been used as a pruning training ground for students.

Dead-heading is one of the most time-consuming jobs but a couple of the volunteers use the petals for potpourri and decoration.  This is the only way to continue the display for the remontant (repeat flowering) types.

Compost bins are now located in the garden - carefully hidden.  We compost the flower heads of the roses, the bedding and all the little weeds with the important bit of soil on them.  Grass cuttings are raked up after mowing by Fife Council and these are added too.  Rose prunings are set aside and uplifted by the council.  Leaf fall from the roses is gathered and put in the brown bins to help control disease.

Rose-replant disease

Through my own research I can not get to the bottom of this one.  Personally I have not had experience of this within the garden even though several ‘old’ hands told me I’d “not grow roses there”.  I took the precaution of using soil from the neighbouring display beds and used that in my planting mix and the ‘Daybreak’ Hybrid Musk roses I planted 3 years ago as well as several other varieties have romped to become quite monstrous - always happy to exchange ideas on this one though.  Roses are hungry feeders and the soil I first encountered 4 years ago was terribly impoverished - but no longer so.


Recommended Roses

A few roses that have worked well here, by type:

 *my go-to recommendations for beginners

Other improvements

Funding

 I have received constant encouragement from the Royal British Legion through our District Organiser and I received the news that a legacy payment was available for the garden of £400.  This was used to purchase 18 roses to fill the large ‘mowing’ borders on the lower lawn an a plaque has since been placed in the garden to honour the memory of the individual concerned. Subsequently funding has been used to purchase roses each year, their feed, organic material for planting  as well as sundries such as canes and string.

 The RBL have made further contributions along with the Newburgh Co-op, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme, local individuals and a community coffee morning. Soil improver has been supplied by the council each year - enough to cover all the beds and this is applied by volunteers. Volunteer hours to date over the four years so far equate to roughly 750, the financial equivalent just over £10,000.

To date we have received £3900 and spent £1950.

Future improvements

Our next plan is the refurbishment of the memorial statue through a grant from the War Memorials Trust via Fife Council.  This will also require a significant input from the community for which most of the funds raised are being put aside in readiness.

Conclusion and Top Tips

Making a change in your local area does make a difference - people notice very quickly and are supportive.  We now keep the gates open and put signs up to invite you in.  We’ve had a lot more visitors this year.  And why shouldn’t we - my favourite rose - the Hybrid Perpetual ‘Reine des Violettes’ has between 200 and 300 blooms on each bush at the first flush in June - and there are 8 in a row - it looks fantastic and attracts a lot of attention.  The garden is a sea of roses with thousands upon thousands of blooms.

Above all, the garden has changed from being rather neglected and unused area (apart from Remembrance service), to a welcome space for reflection, reading or just a blether without taking away any of the respect owed to those who have gone before.  If anything I feel they would be smiling down.  The new benches have been most welcome.

When you start a project, realise that you will do much of the work yourself, take account of this and don’t get down-hearted.  At the age of 62 I am a comparative ‘Spring Chicken’ and I can’t expect others to want to come out on cold miserable Winter days to do the necessary work involved when they may not be physically able to do so. 

Keep everyone on board, keep them all informed - I use our local Facebook groups with regular updates.  Getting by-in from local authority operatives as well as management has been key and it enables you to navigate issues as they arise, this has been an invaluable lesson.

Thank those who contribute and ask opinions - it’s their garden as much as yours

 Ask for help when you need it whether it be funding, materials or practical - most people want to help in some way

 Choose your roses from sound research, experience and observation of what’s growing best locally. 

Why get involved?

Well a couple of reasons:

As aforementioned, a sense of respect for those who had made the ultimate sacrifice and continue to do so in order that we can live the lives we enjoy today.  Working with a veteran and on occasion hearing harrowing accounts that undoubtedly left their mark as well as meeting some of those under the care of the Scottish Veteran’s Residences. I was fortunate never to have had to face such things as others had.

And there’s ‘Green therapy’ - where do we go when we need that peace or solitude to gather our thoughts, re-assess our life priorities or  seek solace?

Many of us can relate to that trip to the local fete as a child and we would come home clutching some poor plant destined for a miserable end, whether a spider plant, a peanut cactus or those poor touch-sensitive plants that had to endure constant poking.  But we’ve all seen the response to nature and nurture, how children love to plant a seed and watch it grow - sadly too slow for most at their age.  It’s that idea that something responds to you through your intervention - hopefully in a positive way.

On a personal level, I had been diagnosed with cancer in 1998 at the age of 35 and but for the auspices of the East Surrey Hospital would not be here.  The care given, though professional, so freely and with warmth, was part of that healing process.  It was indeed my experience with cancer that turned me away from city life to horticulture and I have never looked back.  

For the last 25 years I have pursued a career where I feel more and more at one with my environment, I take time to study and notice things.  I normally sit and have my lunch in the woods where I work and marvel at all the living, breathing nature around me.  This year I was able to identify and see a nuthatch calling - it’s the little things that make the difference in our lives.  I have worked with depression and PTSD sufferers and always found that working amongst nature has calming and healing properties, giving people space to breathe again. 

Well they say “What comes round goes round” and it was a time to give back for the kindnesses and the sacrifices of others.  Here was an opportunity to use the skill-set I have acquired.

What could I bring to The Memorial Garden?

My background in horticulture goes back 25 years.  I was a horticultural lecturer delivering City and Guilds and latterly NVQ Level 2 at East Surrey College.  I’ve attended rose courses and events at both David Austin’s and Peter Beales.  My thirst for knowledge and my passion for roses has taken me far and wide and many a gardener has been a great source of information.  I now run my own whole day events on roses covering the basics of plant nutrition and soils through history and culture of the rose and finally to the whole process of choosing and maintaining them with a practical lesson. 

I have also been a volunteer judge for Keep Scotland Beautiful since 2016, taking me across Scotland to acknowledge and encourage the great work that so many communities do to better their environments.

With thanks to Adrian Miles