Growing Roses

Roses are hardy deciduous prickly bushes that require plenty of sun, neutral to alkaline soils and plenty of water & fertiliser in summer.

A healthy rose produces abundant flowers in summer which are often fragrant. There are a few simple steps to follow to have healthy roses, a well cared for rose can give a lifetime of pleasure.

There are two main types of roses. Bush or climbing roses, where a selected rose variety has been budded onto a short cane & standard and weeping roses which are roses that have been grafted or budded onto a tall cane of a wild rose. Bush roses are cheap to buy and can be used effectively as hedges, individual specimens or borders. Climbing roses can be used to cover walls, grow over archways or be trained into trellis.

Roses come in red, yellow, pink, mauve, white and shades in-between. Some varieties are fragrant. To determine which varieties are fragrant just look at the label. Some varieties are free flowering, this means they produce successive crops throughout the summer. Most popular roses particularly icebergs are free flowering and will produce flowers from mid spring until the end of the autumn. Some of the old fashion roses and some of the climbing and weeping roses only have one spectacular flower per year.

Disease Resistance

Some roses are more resistant to fungal problems than others. The most resistant are the carpet roses and icebergs with many other varieties showing good disease resistance.

Selection

If you need help choosing whether to plant bush or standard ores or in deciding which rose variety will give you the colour, fragrance and disease resistance you require, just ask out staff.

Standard Rose

A standard rose is a rose bush on a tall stem. These can be used effectively to give height to a particular bed in your garden. The main advantage of standard roses is that they leave plenty of room at ground level to grow other shrubs, hedges, groundcovers or flowers. Standard roses can look very elegant and give your garden height.

Weeping Roses

A weeping rose is a climbing style of rose that has been grafted or budded onto a very tall rose cans. These need to be supported by a rose ring to hold them up and give them a full shape at the top be fore they cascade to the ground.

To Plant Roses in Winter

Dig away grass and weeds from the planting site. Spade the ground over to a depth of 30cm add 3kg of ground agricultural limestone or dolomite lime per m2 of garden bed in the planting area if the soil tends to be acid. Locate the old soil level on your rose bush by wiping the trunk clean with a rag near the base and noting where the trunk changes from a greenish to a yellowish coloured section, occasionally black streaks are seen.

The point of the colour change is the old soil level on the trunk. Before planting roses trim off any damaged roots and branches. Dig a hole in the cultivated area big enough to allow the roots to spread out, mix some Devotion™ Planting Mix For Wet Feet, Heavy & Clay Soils if you have heavy clay soil, or Devotion™ Sandy & Loamy Planting Mix if your soil is sandy/loamy into the soil at the base of the hole and mound the bottom up to spread the rose roots over. Then holding the old soil level at the natural soil level fill the soil back in, mixing in the Devotion™ Planting Mix as you go. Do not fertilise dormant roses at planting as they are asleep and don't require food.

In summer when planting roses from pots don't tease their roots. Slide out of the pot and plant the rootball whole & untouched. Plant with the soil level of the potted roses level with the surface of your garden.

Once roses are planted drive in a stake that can support them. As they grow this is particularly important with standard roses. The stake should be at least 25 cm taller than the graft so that the head, which is the most valuable part of the plant can be attached to the stake, this will prevent the head from blowing off.

When you purchase your bare rooted roses from Chris and Marie's Plant Farms they are wrapped in moist packing material and plastic and should be kept in a cool spot out of the wind and sun until they are ready to be planted. It is best to plant them within two weeks of purchase.

Spacing Roses

Bush roses, climbers and standards should be spaced between 1-2 meters apart. If they are planted at the later distance you will need to plant other flowers between them so your garden won't look bare.

Watering

Roses are deep rooted and need good occasional soaks in the hot part of summer, leaves will soon fall if roses are too dry. Roses need to be watered everyday in summer of they are grown in a pot.

Fertiliser

In acid soil areas, top dress your roses every year every year with 3 kg per m2 of ground agricultural limestone. Fertilise regularly with your choice of dynamic lifter, Devotion™ Time Release Fertiliser, or a complete rose food, be sure not to use just nitrogen fertilisers as they will produce too much green leaf and not enough flowers.

Cultivation

Roses love regular cultivation around their roots to aerate the soil. It's great to cultivate just after fertilising and in summer around the base to help water soak in.

Spraying

Roses need to be sprayed regularly with mild insecticide and fungicide to kill fungal disease and sucking insects. If you only have a few roses and don't want to waste time mixing chemicals, consider using garden aerosol insecticide and fungicide. There are safe and mild spraying alternatives such as pyrethrum and cleansol. If you are unsure as to what spray or when ask our staff. When the weather turns cold after mid May normally get black spots and mildew, professional rose growers attempt to control this last fungal attack as they see it as beneficial and helping the rose into dormancy.

Pruning

There are two main pruning times.

Summer Pick off all the dead flower heads or cut the flower stems and use for indoor displays. This encourages new flowers by stopping the rose using energy on dead or dying flowers.

Winter this is the serious pruning time.

1. Remove all the new, soft growths.
2. Cut back the old wood, leaving only a leader for next season.
3. Remove all the suckers, these are buds that are growing from the understock and are found below the bud union.
4. You should cut it back so that it resembles a claw, don't worry if you think you have been too ruthless, The plant should 4-5 main leaders ready for next season.

Climbing roses have to be dealt with slightly differently. For the first two years the only pruning should be the removal of unwanted canes and the other canes should be tied to a trellis. To allow the plant to bush out, at the end of autumn cut off the last 45cms of the cane, this flowers. These roses should be deadheaded similarly to the other varieties. A good quality pruning kit is recommended for this process, consisting of secateurs and strong gloves.