need a slim-bladed pruning saw to get in between the branches. You should also cut out at the base any weedy new shoots that were produced late in the season but that did not really get very far. Then, still steadfastly ignoring everything else, remove some of the oldest and thickest shoots that are still very much alive, but which will have produced further generations of "new" flowering shoots from their upper extremeties. You will probably have to cut these huge shoots into small sections in order to extricate them from the general tangle. By this stage the rose will have slimmed itself down considerably. If it is still too extensive, you could shorten some of the thicker, longest shoots down to within a foot or two of the ground, cutting just above a leaf scar. These shoots will branch next year, producing flowering shoots for the following year, and should be removed thereafter. You could also nip the ends of any shoots that are really too long. Apart from this annual clean-up, which will be easier in subsequent years, you should have little trouble from a ground-cover rose, although you can smarten it up a little after flowering with the removal of the old trusses of flowers in August. Feed and mulch in spring and mid-summer. Composting using leafmould On October 18 you mentioned that you can ''make great weed-free potting compost in the coming spring'' from leafmould. Do you just use the leafmould by itself, or do you