Overfed roses?

[pogo]

I had couple of small rose bushes that were planted last year in my front garden and were looking very healthy. Three weeks ago, my well-meaning parents were house-sitting and while doing a bit of weeding they noticed that soil was quite poor, so they mixed in a lot of all-purpose plant feed pellets around the base of the roses. A week later, and all the leaves had turned brown. Now the stems are bare. I can only assume it was down to the pellets? Is there any hope of saving them?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

You could try watering heavily in hopes of washing a bit out.

 

[oneeye]

Dig out as much of the old topsoil as you can, and then flush out the rest with a lot of water. Use rainwater if you have excess to it because it has no buffering effects. Then replace the old topsoil with new topsoil after the water flush. Then leave the plants alone and let them be, so they can adapt to the new environment. Be patient after because they may not leaf out until next year.