GROWING shrub roses in a confined space is entirely achievable provided you're willing to spend a small amount of time each season to reign in the growth and try one or two tricks that have helped me over the years, writes TOM ATTWOOD.

Space is tight in our garden borders and to have large cumbersome shrub roses wallowing in them isn’t an option any more. The first thing to do is choose the correct shrub rose. There are some which will be more compact than others and a short search on the websites of the major growers and writers on the subject will steer you in the right direction. As with colour, the ones you choose come down to personal preference and my idea of beauty may clash with your own. However, if there’s one thing I will insist upon then it’s good scent. If you have a very small space and a rose is to be included then go for the complete package, a variety that repeat flowers through the season, has good scent and disease resistance to maximise results and the pleasure and enjoyment it brings you. I do like the older moss roses which don’t always flower as long as some of their rose cousins but many of them carry a strong scent and intense colour. We have a delightfully scented and richly coloured five year old moss rose named James Mason and I’m sure many of you reading this will be familiar with the plant. Left to its own devices it can get pretty big, upwards of five feet, but rather than letting it do so each March I remove a fifth of its stems that sprout from the very base of the plant, focusing on the older stems and prioritising the fresh new stems. I then take two robust metal plant supports and sit them either side of the plant. This is the anchor point for the remaining stems which having been trimmed, are bent down to the supports and are tied on at roughly the same point. Bending the stems triggers masses of flowering shoots and maintains a compact sized plant.

Next week: constructing a simple cold frame from recycled windows