Roses Have Similar Cultural Requirements
Whether you prefer the elegant, long-stemmed hybrid teas, the fragrant old-fashioned delights you remember from Grandma's garden or the tough and colorful landscape roses, you'll find all roses have similar cultural requirements.
Too many new gardeners shy away from roses because of their reputation for being demanding and temperamental. It's not true - rose gardening doesn't have to become a sentence of hard labor. Neither do roses fall in the "plant them and walk away" category. Your roses will need regular attention to keep them healthy and blooming.
For gardeners new to rose growing, and for those ready to brush up on their skills, we offer this step-by-step guide to the basics of growing beautiful roses.
CHOOSING A LOCATION
Roses need at least five hours of direct sunlight daily. Morning sun is preferable because it dries dew from the foliage, helping prevent disease. Aggressive tree and shrub roots will rob your roses of nutrients and moisture, so plant far from the nearest trees. The site should drain well; standing water is death to roses. And finally, pick a spot with a rich, loamy soil.
Your roses should be where you can enjoy them. Consider the views from windows or outdoor living areas when designing a rose bed. Remember that roses have thorns before you decide to plant them close to a walkway or play area.
Grouping roses together simplifies fertilizing and spraying. If your landscape doesn't allow for a bed devoted exclusively to roses, put a few roses in a foundation planting or a sunny perennial border, where their roots won't be disturbed by tilling. Their diversity in form and habit allows for many other landscaping uses, including roses grown in containers or as informal hedges and groundcovers.
PREPARING THE SOIL
Roses are tolerant of many soils, but they perform best in a deep clay loam enriched with organic material. They prefer a nearly neutral or slightly acid soil (pH of 6.0 to 6.8). Since roses send feeder roots deep into the soil, dig rose beds at least 18 inches deep.
No matter what soil type you begin with, mix in generous quantities of organic matter before planting roses. Soil amendment is especially important when working with heavy clay, sandy and infertile soils.
The organic material can be in the form of compost, sphagnum peat moss or rotted manure.
Preparation of new rose beds should be done well in advance of planting, allowing enough time for the loosened soil to settle. If your schedule permits, prepare the soil in fall for planting the following spring.
The best time to plant bare-root roses in most climates, and the only choice in cold climates, is early spring. Plant a few weeks before the last frost, when the soil has warmed enough to be workable, but the rose plants are still dormant.
In Zones 8 to 10, late fall or winter planting is preferred.
SELECTING YOUR ROSES
Now comes the fun part. Rose catalogs show an amazing array of beautiful flowers. Try not to be dazzled by the pretty pictures - stick to varieties you know grow well in your region.
Pass up supermarket or discount store "bargains." They are often severely root-pruned and sometimes mislabeled. They rarely match the quality of roses sold by the best rose specialists. Deal only with reputable retailers, either a local garden center or one of the many mail-order rose nurseries.
Most rose growers prefer to plant bare-root roses. These are available in late winter or early spring.
When bare-root roses are purchased or received, first unwrap them and prune away any broken roots or canes. Also remove any weak, twiggy growth. No other pruning is necessary at planting time.
Plant the roses as soon as possible. If they are not to be planted immediately, rewrap them in moist packing material and store them in a cool, but not freezing, place. A few hours before planting, allow the roots to soak in a bucket of water.
PLANTING BARE-ROOT ROSES
Space hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas a minimum of 24 inches apart. Wider spacing is called for in warmer zones, where growth is more vigorous. Space shrub roses and old-fashioned varieties according to their mature size. Some should be as much as 6 feet apart.
Dig individual holes about 15 inches deep and 15 inches in diameter. Leave a cone-shaped mound of soil in the center of the hole. Drape the roots over the cone so they radiate outward in all directions.
The bud union, the swollen point on the main trunk of a grafted rose plant, marks the place where the desired rose variety has been joined to a hardy root system. The bud union is used to gauge depth of planting.
In climates where no hard freezes occur, the bud union should be at the soil level. In colder climates, plant with the bud union 1 to 2 inches below the surface. A pole placed across the mouth of the hole makes it easy to judge where the soil grade will be.
Backfill the hole with soil to about one-half its depth. Water well to settle the soil around the roots and eliminate air pockets. Adjust the plant to the proper depth, then fill the hole to ground level. Once again, water thoroughly and recheck the planting depth.
Too many new gardeners shy away from roses because of their reputation for being demanding and temperamental. It's not true - rose gardening doesn't have to become a sentence of hard labor. Neither do roses fall in the "plant them and walk away" category. Your roses will need regular attention to keep them healthy and blooming.
For gardeners new to rose growing, and for those ready to brush up on their skills, we offer this step-by-step guide to the basics of growing beautiful roses.
CHOOSING A LOCATION
Roses need at least five hours of direct sunlight daily. Morning sun is preferable because it dries dew from the foliage, helping prevent disease. Aggressive tree and shrub roots will rob your roses of nutrients and moisture, so plant far from the nearest trees. The site should drain well; standing water is death to roses. And finally, pick a spot with a rich, loamy soil.
Your roses should be where you can enjoy them. Consider the views from windows or outdoor living areas when designing a rose bed. Remember that roses have thorns before you decide to plant them close to a walkway or play area.
Grouping roses together simplifies fertilizing and spraying. If your landscape doesn't allow for a bed devoted exclusively to roses, put a few roses in a foundation planting or a sunny perennial border, where their roots won't be disturbed by tilling. Their diversity in form and habit allows for many other landscaping uses, including roses grown in containers or as informal hedges and groundcovers.
PREPARING THE SOIL
Roses are tolerant of many soils, but they perform best in a deep clay loam enriched with organic material. They prefer a nearly neutral or slightly acid soil (pH of 6.0 to 6.8). Since roses send feeder roots deep into the soil, dig rose beds at least 18 inches deep.
No matter what soil type you begin with, mix in generous quantities of organic matter before planting roses. Soil amendment is especially important when working with heavy clay, sandy and infertile soils.
The organic material can be in the form of compost, sphagnum peat moss or rotted manure.
Preparation of new rose beds should be done well in advance of planting, allowing enough time for the loosened soil to settle. If your schedule permits, prepare the soil in fall for planting the following spring.
The best time to plant bare-root roses in most climates, and the only choice in cold climates, is early spring. Plant a few weeks before the last frost, when the soil has warmed enough to be workable, but the rose plants are still dormant.
In Zones 8 to 10, late fall or winter planting is preferred.
SELECTING YOUR ROSES
Now comes the fun part. Rose catalogs show an amazing array of beautiful flowers. Try not to be dazzled by the pretty pictures - stick to varieties you know grow well in your region.
Pass up supermarket or discount store "bargains." They are often severely root-pruned and sometimes mislabeled. They rarely match the quality of roses sold by the best rose specialists. Deal only with reputable retailers, either a local garden center or one of the many mail-order rose nurseries.
Most rose growers prefer to plant bare-root roses. These are available in late winter or early spring.
When bare-root roses are purchased or received, first unwrap them and prune away any broken roots or canes. Also remove any weak, twiggy growth. No other pruning is necessary at planting time.
Plant the roses as soon as possible. If they are not to be planted immediately, rewrap them in moist packing material and store them in a cool, but not freezing, place. A few hours before planting, allow the roots to soak in a bucket of water.
PLANTING BARE-ROOT ROSES
Space hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas a minimum of 24 inches apart. Wider spacing is called for in warmer zones, where growth is more vigorous. Space shrub roses and old-fashioned varieties according to their mature size. Some should be as much as 6 feet apart.
Dig individual holes about 15 inches deep and 15 inches in diameter. Leave a cone-shaped mound of soil in the center of the hole. Drape the roots over the cone so they radiate outward in all directions.
The bud union, the swollen point on the main trunk of a grafted rose plant, marks the place where the desired rose variety has been joined to a hardy root system. The bud union is used to gauge depth of planting.
In climates where no hard freezes occur, the bud union should be at the soil level. In colder climates, plant with the bud union 1 to 2 inches below the surface. A pole placed across the mouth of the hole makes it easy to judge where the soil grade will be.
Backfill the hole with soil to about one-half its depth. Water well to settle the soil around the roots and eliminate air pockets. Adjust the plant to the proper depth, then fill the hole to ground level. Once again, water thoroughly and recheck the planting depth.
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