STOP & SMELL THE ROSES

Oh the rose! While some gardeners grow roses with apparent ease and grace the rest of us seem to battle with the success of this elusive plant. Whether it's a hybrid tea, floribunda, climbing or shrub, roses come with one major requirement: they need at least six hours of direct sun a day. These plants are the divas of the garden and needed to be treated as such.  Never try putting roses in the shade or behind other plants as they need the spotlight to do their thing. But with this said they are also very versatile and can show off as hedges, specimens, ground covers and in containers.

PLANTING

Bare root roses are best planted in early spring or fall but container grown plants can be planted throughout the summer with relative ease. Roses like very rich fertile soil, so amending the planting site with lots of 3-way mix and composted manure is essential. Roses need a lot of air circulation to prevent disease so try not to crowd them. Be sure to water the container well before planting, remove the pot carefully and place in hole. Bone meal and slow release rose fertilizer are ideal amendments to add at this point along with your compost and manure. The slow release fertilizer will continue to feed the roots throughout the summer while the Bone Meal is slower to break down and will be available to the roots later in the summer or early fall.

FEEDING

Roses are notoriously heavy feeders. The more you feed them the more profusely they will bloom. Placing a layer of composted manure around the base every spring is vital.  As well as the addition of a slow release fertilizer in June. Slow release is a fantastic choice for busy gardeners as one application feeds your plants for the entire summer.  

WATERING

The best approach to watering is to let the bed get dry and then water deeply, letting the hose soak the root zone for 45 minutes in the morning.  Never overhead water if possible, always place the hose at the base of the plant or use a soaker hose to make sure the leaves remain dry.  Water on the leaves can promote diseases like black spot or on hot days cause burn like brown marks to appear. Never water roses at night.

PRUNING

Always use clean sharp pruners! Most pruning is done in the spring once the buds first start to break. This is when you can best see any winter damaged or dead wood. Prune back to live wood cutting on an angle just above a new outside bud. Pruning should be always be done to maintain a good plant shape and an open branch structure so air and light can reach the centre. Also be sure to prune out any weak or spindly shoots. A general rule of thumb is that hybrid teas and floribundas can be cut back anywhere from 1/3 to half their height in early spring.  Prune back dead wood on climbers and cut back the oldest canes to 12 inches every 2-3 years to rejuvenate the plant. Most shrub rose can be lightly pruned after they flower but on older plants cut out 1/4 of the oldest canes to the base to allow new ones to grow.

The roses are in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous here at Gemmell's right now. We have a wide selection of hardy shrub roses, David Austin's, hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras in every colour of the rainbow! Drop in and for a chat with one of our horticultural experts for the perfect rose for your garden.