Caring for roses (homepage)

Roses are some of the most beautiful and beloved flower that graces our gardens and our lives. Unfortunately roses have a reputation for being a hard plant to care for. While some rose plant owners find this to be true, others take steps to find out the proper care that is needed for their roses.

Roses do require regular attention to keep the plant looking its best but, after learning the proper steps to take in caring for roses, helping a plant to look its best is easy. The most basic necessity that most people understand that plants need is water. All plants need water and roses are no different. Roses will bloom and look their best if it is well watered. Roses need to be provided with about one inch of water per week. It is the roots of the plant that really need to be considered during this step. Roses have roots that go deep into the ground. Because roses have deep roots they are capable of extracting water from the sub-soil even when the surface is dry. This helps them to tolerate dry spells. Watering the roots of the roses encourages them to grow deep into the soil. Sometimes when a plant owner only offers their roses frequent, light watering, the roots of the plant will grow to be shallow within the soil. This results in the plant not being able to handle the drying of the upper layer of soil due to droughts.

Proper rose care also means fertilizing. Most species of roses are capable of going years without feeding when they are planted in good soil. Plants feed on nutrients that are produced by organisms living in the soil. By over using man-made fertilizer you can smother those beneficial bugs. Plus, your plants can become dependant on fertilizers forcing you to constantly provide them. Instead, owners can apply a slow-release fertilizer to the soil just as the plant is coming out of its dormancy period in early spring. You can also apply a small bit of fertilizer after the blooms go away and the plant is storing up energy for next season. But don’t fertilize after midsummer. Roses do well with both inorganic and organic fertilizers although organic fertilizer materials can be digested by the helpful bacteria and fungus within the soil resulting in your soil permanently becoming more fertile. The most effective combination of inorganic fertilizer is 5-10-5 or 4-8-4.

Pruning is extremely important in the care of roses. It is usually done in the spring, after the plant has been dormant for the winter. At this stage pruning is done to remove the dead, broken, or diseased wood from the plant. This helps to provide the plant with space for the air can move through it as well as keeping it healthy.  Pruning is also done to shape the rose plant. The next stage of pruning occurs after the plant has bloomed. Pruning the actual flowers themselves encourages growth and by removing the flower buds it helps to establish a new plant.

Caring for roses does take time and commitment. It also takes patience, skill, and knowledge. But, there is nothing better then to be able to display your hard work for all to see. The rewards of being able to show off these gorgeous creations right on your front lawn are priceless.

Growing climbing roses

No rose garden is truly complete without including climbing roses into the mix of rose species. Climbing roses, also known as pillars, ramblers, trailing roses, and everblooming roses depending on how they grow are not considered true vines. They don’t grow their own support structures to hold onto surfaces. But they are the ideal ornament to grace any archway, fence or any other structure in and around any garden.

Because climbing roses do not have the capabilities to hold onto structures like vines do, they need help from us. Grower can loosely attach the plant to a structure or wind it through the structure. Some types of structures you can grow climbing roses on are trellis’, arbors, fences, sheds, pillars, walls or almost any other large, solid structures. Climbing roses that are trained to grow laterally rather then vertically often produce more blooms. Vertically trained climbing roses will produce short spurs along their main stem or canes which will produce blooms. Besides the way they grow, growing climbing roses is not unlike growing other types of rose plants. Climbing roses need about six to seven hours of direct unfiltered sunlight a day. Even climbing roses that are said to do well in the part shade still need about four to five hours of direct sunlight a day.

When planning to grow climbing roses in your garden, take into consideration the height or length that these types of roses will grow to. Some species of climbing roses can grow to be around thirty feet in height. Other species can grow to be seven feet in height. Can the structure that you are planning to grow them on support this type of plant? The height of the plant will also depend on the type of climate you have in your area. Another thing to consider is which type of climbing rose is going to suit your garden. Some varieties of climbing roses are everbloomers which means that they bloom all throughout the growing season. Other varieties are spring bloomers meaning they only bloom in the spring.

One big difference between climbing roses and other types of rose plants is that they require very little pruning. There is no need to prune the plant for the first two years. If climbing roses are pruned every year like other rose plants, the opposite will happen to the climbers; they will produce fewer blooms. Owners can get away with pruning their climbing roses every three or four years. Even then, pruning consists of removing small canes and old or less vigorous canes at the base of the plant. Vigorous young canes are encouraged to grow and to become long and flexible. Owners will have an easier time training these canes through and onto structures.

The thing to remember with climbing roses is that you have to be patient. They may take a little while to get established and start blooming right after they are planted. But, when they do become established, the fragrance and the beauty of their colors are well worth the wait.

Transplanting roses

The reasons for wanting to transplant roses are numerous. It could be because you prefer to give it more sunlight or it could be that you are just changing things around a bit in your garden. But, whatever the reason, there are several things that you will need to know before you start pulling your plant out of the ground.

First things first; prepare the ground where you are planning to place your roses. The last thing you want to do is to allow the root ball to be exposed to the hot sun or loose any of its moisture. If your plant has to travel by vehicle to get to its new location, make sure that you cover the roots with a damp piece of burlap. A good tip to remember is to water your plant well the day before you plan to move it. Water is the secret of a successful transplant. The chances of transplanting a dry, wilting plant successfully are low. But, if the plant is full of water, the demands on the roots are minimized for a while after the transplant. Most likely you are going to loose some of the roots from transplanting the plant. The roots of a rose plant grow very deep into the soil past the point of a reasonable amount of soil that can be removed. But, with enough water absorbed by the rest of the plant, your roses have a greater chance of survival.

When digging the plant out, take as much of the root ball as you can handle. It is not necessary to prune healthy plant growth from the top structure in order for the plant to survive. The growth of the plant is important in the production of sugars. It only hurts the plant to cut its growth away. After the transplant if the plant starts to wilt at its tips it’s a sign that it is having trouble supporting its top structure. If this happens increase the amount that you water it and you can prune any tips that do not recover.

It’s a good idea to add about a half to a full cup of bone meal to the hole where the plant will go. You will also need to set the plant slightly higher then it was before because the plant will settle within the hole. The bud union can be about one or two inches above ground level. Once the plant is watered and has settled, you can press slightly on the plant to eliminate air pockets.

Most rose enthusiasts would agree not transplant roses in the growing season for several reasons. It is easier to transplant the roses while they are dormant because there is less of a risk of them going into shock since they are not growing. Plus, right after the annual pruning the plant will be smaller and easier to move around. But, with proper preparation and a lot of water, anyone can follow the steps listed here and anyone can have beautiful, flourishing roses after a transplant during any season.