helo Binkie, welcom to goy' is it moss or mildew, moss is usualy green , the more usual mildew is white, if it is mildue get a puf pack of yellow sulphur from your garden center, puff it on to the loam , or whatever your plants are in, it is about £2.50 a pack,

How do you feed your roses? If you feed them with blood, fish and bone in the spring after hard-pruning, then you'd be better removing the moss, to allow the nutrients to get to the roots. I would think that it's better removed anyway, so that you can replace the top inches of compost with fresh.

Moss or lichen growing on soil in pots usually indicates that the surface of the compost has not been touched for some time, and by touched, I mean forked over with a small hand fork. You can remove it now, or wait till spring, but in the spring, remove the top of the compost as far as possible and replace with new (as said by Spritz above); you can also use this time to feed the rose, either with what Spritz suggests, or a specialist rose food such as Toprose or similar.

After removing the moss and top dressing with fresh compost, put a layer of gravel on to deter regrowth.

this must mean that the pots are outside, I've had a talk with the owner of our local garden center he said that what they did put the hardservice stuf all around the pots but not in them aperantly there is somthing to treat it in the pots if that is it has not been discontinued, things change so fast that even he did not know best ask at your garden center, or do as the other three said.

A word on that Cliffo - if you see a plant at the garden centre and there's moss growing on the soil, or lichen, that means they've had it quite a while in the same pot - usually, if you turn it out, it's often rootbound, because the garden centre hasn't got round to potting them on! In the garden moss and lichen grow on the top of undisturbed soil, especially heavy clay soils, where drainage is poor.

I'll go with that Bamboo , the one I went to had trees like that, I am not surprised though this is a big place, it is also a well known greengrosers caffie gift shop and in season a pick your own place, also a dele, and grosers, there being nothing else only a small butchers with only top of the range prices and a postoffice come chemest, but atleast six ladys hair dresers, and a verry good barber with one chair and prices to match the ladys, otherwise it is a lovly place with a number of thached cottages and frendly people.