Do roses benefit from occasional deep watering in summer, or does it make them grow too tall?

Water in the early morning on the ground, mulch deeply to retain mosture.

My experience of David Austin, and similar rose suppliers, tells me to largely ignore anything they say.... Its a bit like asking an estate agent if the area the house is in is quiet or not.

I have grown a lot of roses over the years and I have never believed in watering them! The best thing to do is to mulch them with newly mown grass clippings and pack this all around their bases. This will stop them drying out. Each time you cut the grass put a bit more round the roses. Roses are very tolerant of all weather and watering is not normally required.

I don't have any grass clippings, but I do have bark mulch. Looks like I'd better get busy spreading some. I'd assume the roots run pretty deep.

I'm so glad I read this. I thought I had to water new roses really well.
Mine are in a central bed in a very hot, sunny position.
I have lots of grass clippings and from now on I know exactly where to put them.
Thanks Jonathan for asking the question and for all the answers.

I'm gonna stick my neck out again and say I agree with Alan Titchmarsh's advice - he suggests that kind of watering (though I'd make it once a week, for 30 minutes with a sprinkler or a running hose at the roots) during very hot spells because, although the roses will survive without it, what will be affected is the flowering - there will be fewer of them if the weather is very dry, and surely, that's why people grow roses, for their flowers. And I would certainly discount David Austin's comment that too much water means they get taller than they should - its rubbish - the plants are always slightly variable, and any height indicators when sold are only ball park figures, really, so there may be a difference of a foot or so. Their advertising is probably at fault, in fact, because they're not being honest about the eventual sizes anyway (at least that's what I've observed from their website)

I agree with you Bamboo, on all points.

I too have found that the David Austin catalogue's indication of height of roses is quite undependable information. It is only a very approximate indication at best. ... I suppose the only other thing that needs to be said is to make sure that we grow roses in a soil which has been evolved to be 'good at heart' (as Monty Don once put it).