How to Prepare Soil for Planting Roses

Roses grow and perform reasonably well under a wide variety of soil conditions. However, it is widely recognized they perform much better when planted in the IDEAL ROSE SOIL.

, in an IDEAL ROSE SITE.

First of all, a few words about the site:

a. An elevated spot of land, because this reduces the chances of creating water logged conditions. Good drainage is essential for root health.

b. Away from buildings and fences and other structures. Whenever roses are planted against a wall of a fence, this reduces access to bushes to perform essential maintenance items.

c. Away from trees and other shrubs. As far away as possible. Root competition from other shrubs and trees is a constant challenge. When you plant roses and fertilize and water them regularly over a period of time, roost from neighboring trees and shrubs will find them, sooner or later. You might wonder , how then, gardeners have always planted roses in the perennial borders and seem to be happy with the results. The simple answer is, they same roses would have performed much better, planted in dedicated rose beds, away from competing roots. Almost all Consulting Rosarians of the American Rose Society plant their roses in dedicated rose beds.

d. Open, sunny spot. Wide open, sunny location was recommended for the European climate. While it as accepted that the roses do well when planted in full sun, it is our experience that they do suffer from too much heat in the Southern sun during the months of July and August. Filtered shade provided right over the beds, providing shade in the mid after-noon, seems to do wonders for the bushes. Planting roses across the western border of a property, separated by tall trees about thirty feet west to the rose beds seems to be very beneficial by providing afternoon shade. Roses receiving less than six hours of sun do not do well, generally speaking.

IDEAL ROSE SOIL:

Sandy Loam, containing five to ten percent of organic matter, with a pH of 6.5. Such soil can be ordered from commercial horticultural suppliers. All regions of the country have such businesses catering to local nurserymen. Rose beds are simple excavated to a depth of 12 inches and filled with this commercial soil, up to six inches above the ground to make raised beds. Then a suitable border may be installed to hold the soil in place. Mulching also helps in holding the soil in place, in addition to keeping the soil cool in the summer, conserving moisture and controlling germination of annual weeds. Buying commercially prepared soil is the most expensive option.

Then next best option is to mark the beds and place a layer of any good soil-less potting mixes bought from your local box store and tilling it in. Third option is to ad a four inch layer of compost to existing soil and tilling it in.

The least desirable option is to prepare individual planting hole by mixing soil-less potting mix or compost to individual potting hole, approximately one part of mix to two parts of indigenous soil.

It is a good idea to send a soil sample for analysis and recommendation by your local county extension service. Depending upon the pH, one can add lime to rasie the pH or sulfur to lower the same. Exact amounts needed will be included in the soil report. It takes about three months to improve acidic pH, as the lime is poorly soluble and the lime has to go into solution to react with the acidic soil and raise the pH.

d. Open, sunny spot.

How to plant a Rose

In this brief discussion, I will answer a few commonly asked questions about how, where and when to plant rose bushes. Traditionally, roses are ordered from nurseries as bare root roses. Bare root roses have a few roots, each one approximately a quarter of an inch or more in girth, tapering along a length of about eighteen inches. The roots arise from a shank, about four to six inches in length. The bud union appears like a slightly larger knot atop the shank. From there, at least three good stems are emerging, each bigger than a third of an inch. They are cut off at a height of approximately 12 inches. The reason why most nurseries and gardeners choose this method is that it is easier to ship these plants to customers in this fashion. One prerequisite for successful planting of bare roots is that the plants have to be dug up after they go dormant and processed for storing, stored in refrigeration and shipped in dormant condition. Also, they have to be planted at an appropriate time, typically, early in the spring just as the roses in the area they are planted are just starting to break dormancy. In Columbia, SC, this is in early February.

You can also get rose plants potted and growing at garden centers and nurseries in the spring. Typically, they would have grown for a few weeks and would be starting to bloom. Big garden centers call these "roses in bud and bloom" and they cost a little bit more to reflect cost of potting and caring for them. Slight advantage is that you could see actually what the plants and blooms look like before you buy them. These plants in pots can be transplanted any time of the year, although, the spring is the best time. There are some essential differences between how these are planted and how the bare rootsbushes are planted.

Selecting a proper site to plant a rose garden goes a long way to assist in growing roses successfully. Briefly put, a sunny, open site, elevated from the rest of the yard, away from trees and buildings and fences would be ideally suited for rose growing. Roses do well when planted in a sunny location.Plant them as far from the nearest trees as possible to reduce root competition; although, in time, the tree roots will find your rose beds as they get fertilized and watered regularly. Planting away from fences and buildings instead of against them helps with maintenance chores by providing good access to each bush from all sides, specially if you intend to follow a preventive maintenance spray program.

What kind of soil do roses like? Actually, roses will grow well in a wide variety of soils. But if you intend to do things right and do not mind the labor involved why not provide the best soil to start with? A sandy loam with 5-10% organic matter and pH of 6.5% is just about perfect. Small beds can be excavated about a foot deep and back filled with custom blend rose soil. But this would be the most expensive way to do it. A good alternative is to simply place a layer of 4-6 inches of any commercially sold soil-less potting mix and then thoroughly incorporate this top layer into a depth of 12 inches. The resulting bed will be naturally raised by four to six inches.

You could add a layer of compost instead of commercial potting mix. The goal is to add organic matter to the soil and improve the tilth of clay based soil and enhance nutrient and water holding capacity of sandy soils. A suitable border may be installed to contain the prepared soil so that it will not be washed away. Ideally, you would send a soil sample to the county extension service for soil analysis. According to the results of the soil analysis, pH can be amended by adding recommended amount of lime to raise the pH to a desired level, between 6 to 7 or adding soil sulfur to lower the pH if it is higher than 6.5. Correction of pH is desirable because all required nutrients are in available form in the soil at a pH of 6.5. More on this subject in a future blog. Placing a layer of mulch aids in holding the soil in place and helps conserve moisture, keep annual weeds from sprouting and keep the soil cooler during the summer months. We will discuss mulching in more detail in a future blog. For spring planting, it is recommended that the beds be prepared in the fall and allowed to "mellow" over winter. If you did not have an opportunity to to prepare the soil in the fall, you could go ahead and plant roses in freshly prepared beds as well.

In preparing rose beds, decide how many roses you are going to plant and prepare a bed of adequate size. This applies to yards which are wide open for you to design anything you wish for. Alternately, you may have to make a bed to occupy the available space and then determine how many plants will be needed to fill the bed. Commonly accepted guidelines for planting well tended roses suggest that roses be planted three feet on center, two rows deep. Thus, planting in large circles or more than two deep is not desirable as maintenance would be more cumbersome. However, if the color impact is more important to you, then they would look better when planted a little bit closer and three rows deep. They would have to be pruned harder in the spring and dead headed accordingly after each cycle of blooms.

When you receive the shipment of bare root roses open the package as soon as you receive it and check for accuracy and number of contents. Soak the rose plants in a large buckets or drums filled with fresh water for an hour or two in order to rehydrate the plants. Mark the beds with small sticks or markers to determine acceptable layout. Make a hole to plant each rose in the prepared bed at the marked location. Make the hole large and deep enough to spread all roots in a natural fashion. Create a mound of soil in the middle of the hole. Hold the plant on top of the hole so that the roots are naturally spread away and downward from the plant. Any broken and damaged roots must be trimmed off. Make sure the bud union will end up slightly above the surrounding soil level when finished. You can place a stick across the hole so that you can see

how much soil needs to be added or reduced from the mound of soil upon which you place the plant. Then gradually add the soil around the roots. The soil may be gently firmed up by hand. Do not step on the soil for this purpose. When the soil is back filled almost to the top, gently water the bush and wait for the water to drain. This helps eliminate most of air pockets. The finish back filling to make the soil level even with the surrounding bed. Water again. Place a suitable mulch such as pin straw or pine bark over the entire bed. Then pile the same mulch around each plant until only the tips of freshly planted roses are visible.

Roses planted in this fashion should be watered at least once a week, gently and carefully.

The mulch around each plant helps keep the stems from drying before new roots are established and help break dormancy. In three weeks time or sooner if you see fresh growth emanating from the stems.

The containerized plants (bud and blooms) are planted differently. Make a hole twice as wide as the size of the container. The bottom of the soil should be level. then place the container in the hole to see if the top of the soil level in the container will be even with the soil level of the surrounding bed. If not increase or decrease the depth of the hole as needed. It is important that you cause minimal root disturbance. In order to accomplish this task, I suggest cutting off the bottom of the plastic pot with a pair of old pruning shears. Then place the bottomless pot in the middle of the hole. Using a sharp box cutter, make a vertical cut along the entire side of the pot. Now the pot can be peeled open like a sheet of card board and removed. Making another cut on the opposite side of the first cut will make this job even easier. Now you can gently back fill the hole and finish planting just as you would a bare root rose plant. Mulch the bed. But mulching up the stems is not necessary. In the next blog: spring care, fertilizing, spraying.

grow roses with satish

Most gardenenrs have at some point and time in their gardening lives have planted roses. After a few seasons of frustration, most gardeners also give up growing roses, thus stengthening the notion that roses are hard to grow. It is true that growing roses is somewhat of a labor intensive hobby, but with correct information, they can be grown quite easily, practically in all parts of USA.

In this introductory blog, I would like to very briefly discuss common reasons for failure and also minimal requirements for growing very good roses.

Most failures result from planting wrong type of roses for one's garden, choosing a wrong site, applying too much or too little fertilizers, inappropriate watering and other incorrect cultural practices.
Here are the basics:
Roses like a sunny spot. About six hours of direct sunlight is ideal. The site should be as far away from trees as possible. When you regularly fertilize and water roses, tree roots will find their way into your rose beds and in the ensuing root competition, trees will generally win. Roses also do better when planted by themselves in exclusive beds, rather than in mixed borders amongst other shrubs and perinneals and annuals, although many experienced gardeners recommend doing the same. You will also find plenty written on companion plantings. Watering in the morning allows enough time for the foliage to dry. Watering in the evening promotes black spot and other fungal diseases. Watering only at the base of the plants without wetting foliage is desirable. Always keep the roots evenly moist without allowing the beds to go completely dry between waterings. Soil fertility must be maintained by periodic application of fertilizers. The simplest way to fertilize is to apply a granular fertilizer with a N:P:K ratio of 10-10-10. About a third of a cup sprinkled evenly around each bush evry month is just about the correct amount. In the future blogs, we will discuss many options for very complex fertilization programs including many different organic, chemical, granular, slow release, water soluble fertilizers as well as trace element mixes and exotic things, although, none of those is absolutely essential. There are organic methods to prevent and combat diseases and insects affecting the roses, but chemical programs are generally more successful.
Ideal soil for growing roses is a rich sandy loam with five percent organic matter.Good drainage must be assured to prevent water-logged conditions. A native soil can be improved by adding adequate amounts of organic material, such as peat moss and compost and sand if the soil is clayey or a small amount of clay if the soil is very sandy. A third by volume of each, sand, clay and organic material, mixed together makes excellent soil. Newly planted roses will start blooming the very first spring, in approximatey eight weeks after the plants start to leaf out. The second year, they would be established well enough to bloom like mature plants. For maintaining sanitary conditions, all spent blooms must be promptly removed and discarded. Harvest sparingly the first year. Then harvest more liberally the following season if you wish, but always leave enough foliage on the plant, so that it can continue to grow vigorously and be productive throughout the growing season.
Follow these simple instructions and you would be on your way to becoming a successful rose grower. We will discuss disease prevention in the next blog.