Selecting, Planting, And Maintaining Roses

 

Selecting A Rose

 

The following are the most popular rose types.  Hybrid Teas produce large, shapely, blooms, one to a stem, very desirable for cut flowers; grows around 2-5 feet tall.  Floribundas and Polyanthas produce smaller plants with smaller blooms, but many more blooms, in clusters, and over a longer blooms season.  Polyanthas are particularly disease-resistant as a carefree landscape rose.  Grandifloras produce a very large bush with many large, cuttable flowers.  Climbing roses produce long, flexible canes, which can be trained to fences, arbors, or trellises.  Antique roses and EarthKind roses are easy to grow, requiring less soil preparation, less watering and fertilizing, and no chemical spraying, yet still have attractive and fragrant blooms over a long season.

 

Site Preparation

 

For best results, rose bushes should receive at least 4 hours of full sun a day.  Avoid areas where roses will receive reflected heat from concrete or brick during afternoon; though all day sun is OK, some afternoon shade is beneficial all summer.

 

Pick a well-drained site free of standing water.  For planting 6 or more rose bushes, build a bed.  Turn soil to a depth of 12”-18”, add 2”-4” of Back to Nature Compost, and mix thoroughly with turned soil (see Bed Preparation sheet for further details).  For individual plants without beds, dig an area 18” across and 12” deep and mix soil with same materials listed for building beds.  Finished height of beds or individual planting mounds must be higher than the surrounding soil.

 

Planting

 

Space Floribundas and Polyanthas 18”-2’ apart, Hybrid Teas and Grandifloras 2’-4’ apart.  Dig a hole deep enough so that when the rosebush is set in the hole, the bud union (where the branches grow off the single main trunk) is just above soil level.  Make sure the soil under the plant is firmed enough to prevent future settling.

 

Remove the root ball from the plastic pot carefully, keeping soil on the roots if possible.  Set the bush in the hole at the proper level described above, and gently firm soil mix around roots to fill the hole.  Water the roses in with a solution of Green Light Root Stimulator and water.

 

Fertilizing and Spraying

 

Begin fertilizing in February with Green Diamond Rose Food or Ortho Systemic Rose and Flower Care and feed through October.  Amount of food can be cut in half in July, August, and September.  Ortho Systemic Rose and Flower Care will prevent common insect problems (aphids, mites, thrips).  Ortho Funginex will prevent common disease problems (blackspot, Mildew).  Orthenex Disease and Insect Control will prevent both.

 

Pruning, Mulching and Watering

 

Prune established Hybrid Teas in late January, removing dead or small twiggy growth, leaving strong healthy canes to a plant height of about 18”.  Try to prune back to an outward facing bud to maintain spreading, open growth.  Don't prune climbers until after the heavy spring bloom, then removing only the oldest canes and cutting back healthy, vigorous canes no more than 1/3.  Remove spent blooms throughout the season from all rose varieties, cutting back to the first 5 leaflet cluster.

 

Keeping 1”-2” layer of mulch over the root zone of roses year round will help keep soil moist and cool during summer, warmer in winter, and lessen soil compaction and weed growth.  Bark chips or bark mulch are most practical for this purpose, as they do not rob nitrogen from the soil as do undecomposed grass or leaves.

 

Watering must be done regularly and deeply, but frequency will vary with weather conditions.  Soaking is better than sprinkling, but sprinkling early in the day with time for the leaves to dry completely should cause no problem.