You made a mistake by cutting them back last fall. In your zone you should not prune your roses in the fall. Wait until spring. The roses store nutrients in the canes and you cut that supply off when you pruned them. That being said, last year was a particularly bad winter and you probably would have lost most of the cane anyway. Nothing you can do about that. We all started out with shorter than normal roses this spring. They'll need time to recuperate and rebuild their structures. Knowing what roses you have will also help us to determine how large and bushy you can expect them to get. Roses can take from 3 to 5 years to fully mature so be patient. As for the puckered leaves we really would need to see a photo of them to be able to diagnose what's going on. Why are you using the Bioneem oil? Do you have a bug infestation? If not then you don't need it. If you do not have a specific insect that you have correctly identified and are using the correct product for that bug, you could be killing off beneficial insects instead. That could set you up for an even worse problem later on. Only use insecticide when you have a bug, know exactly what bug it is and determine the correct insecticide to use for that bug. Not all insecticides work on all bugs. For now I would keep them well watered and fertilize them following the instructions on the fertilizer carefully and be patient.

Hi Molly, has there been anything else which has grown in this spot without issue? I'm trying to see if there might be another potential reason. If other plants have grown there easily, and not been allelopathic (such as Oleander, Walnut, etc.), it shouldn't be soil related. Do you have moles, voles or gophers? What grows on the other side of the property line from the hedge of roses? Is there a fence or other type of wall which might be reflecting or radiating any heat? Are the plants shrinking or just not taking off and growing to your satisfaction? Do they look stressed or are they just remaining small? What kind of soil are they growing in? Is it sandy or does it otherwise possibly drain too quickly? Have you dug test holes along the line to determine if the hickory is invading the rose line and robbing water and other resources? Have you tried increasing the water to see what, if any, responses you get from the roses? Could it be too hot, too brilliant sun for too long duration inhibiting the roses? Are these budded plants or own roots? You are aware that own root Tea roses can be devilishly slow to start? Many people plant them expecting them to explode into growth like a traditional budded HT and they simply aren't going to do that. What size plants were they when planted in the ground in your hedge? Neither you nor your neighbor have dogs which could be "watering" your roses, do you? There are many possibilities to consider, from your tree being the culprit; to too much heat/sun; insufficient water due to soil type or heat/sun levels; animal interference from critters to dog urine; possible soil contamination from allelopathic plants previously growing there to chemicals or paints having been dumped into the soil; drainage issues either into or away from your hedge row; even possible premature impatience with the plants, not giving them sufficient time to develop. How long were the offenders given to perform before being replace; what size plants were they when put into the ground? Have you fertilized them with anything? Wm Allen Richardson is a Tea-Noisette, a climbing plant. It can be more vigorous than the bush types, growing taller, faster, but it can take a long time to develop into the size of climbing plant you desire. The others are bushes, judging from their names and no mention being made that any of them are their climbing forms. There is more at work here than potential hickory tree root interference. You describe it as "failure to thrive" rather than "died". I'm wondering if your definition of "thrive" might be a bit impatiently unrealistic for these types of roses, particularly if they began life as small, own root plants? Kim

Deer yes, rabbits occasionally. There is a beagle across the road who runs them. :) My aunt said the sprinkler scarecrow is the only thing that worked for her. I don't have water down there, so I will have to figure out a way to get water to it other than a garden hose. I should invent something. It would work like a water scarecrow, but instead of spraying them it would go "BOOGITY BOOGITY BOGGITY, GO AWAY STUPID DEER!!" then it would wildly flap back and forth causing all the floodlights in the house to start blinking wildly, at which time the pack of doberman and pitbull's would be released from their underground trapdoor bunker. Do you think that would sell?

Okay, it's been about 5 years since my next door neighbour died and renters from hell have been moving in and out of the house. UPDATE: a new family moved in next door on Thursday night! First people in the house since September. Both my husband and my son (at different times) warned them about their new slumlord. This family has 8 children. In a small 3 bedroom house. With one bathroom. I don't think all the kids are living there, I heard one of the kids mention his nephew to my son so I think some are old enough to have their own place. I do hope these people are better than everyone who has lived there. I did see they are painting the living room so they're trying to fix it up a bit inside. Both my husband and son warned them of all the mold in the basement. They said they didn't see any, but they told my husband the walls all have panelling on them downstairs. My husband told them that's new and wonders if they just covered it up. They are going to get city inspectors in to see if they can use their meters to detect mold. Wish us luck. With this many kids and our bedroom window just 10 feet from their back yard, I'm worried I won't get any sleep this summer when school is out. I get up at 5:15 for work so I'm in bed usually by 9....