A Guide To Growing Roses for Beginners

Growing Roses Needn’t be Hard

Growing roses for beginners doesn’t have to be overly complex or difficult. By following these tips below you can soon have a wonderful rose garden of your own.

Buy Good Plants - The key to a successful rose garden is in the stock. Buy the best rose bushes or shrubs that you can afford. Miniature roses and old garden varieties are grown on their roots but other hybrid teas are grafted onto root stock so be careful when choosing them. Look for plants with at least three good canes from the bud union (the large bulb at the base of rose) and should be 8 to 12 inches long and are at least a 1/4 inch in diameter.

Plant Right - Roses need a minimum of six hours of sunlight a day, preferably morning light. Prepare your rose beds with lots of organic material to keep the soil well drained and loose. Roses require deep holes, at least 6-9 deeper than bottom of the roots. When planting blend a little rose fertilizer in with the soil and water well.

Feed and Water Properly - Roses are heavy feeders. Feed your roses with a minimum of fertilizer as least 3 times a year; once in the spring before buds appear, in summer after the first bloom burst and again in the late fall to help your bushes survive the colder months. Many rose gardeners simply feed them every 4-6 weeks. Roses also require lots of water if rainfall is insufficient. Deep soak from 30 to 60 minutes as needed.

Learn to Prune Correctly - Prune your roses by either thinning them out to increase airflow and sunlight or by selectively heading back the tips until you reach good buds.

Summer Maintenance - Deadhead blooms as they wither. Apply several inches of mulch to prevent weeds and to control moisture in your beds.

Control Bugs and Diseases - Spray for insects and plant diseases as needed. Check weekly for signs of black spot, mildew or blight. Take measures to control aphids, cane borers and other pests. Clean up and remove any damaged or diseased blooms, leaves or canes.

Winter Preservation - It’s not the cold temperatures as much as the heaving of the soil which destroys rose bushes. To prevent this and save your plants, in the late fall after your bushes before the first frost, push back the mulch and clean away any dead leaves, or fallen rose blooms. Remove any diseased stalks or branches and add any fertilizer as required. Now you can mound up soil with a top layer of mulch around the rose canes for protection.

Growing roses for beginners need not become a chore; if you take care to follow the steps outlined above then you can soon become an accomplished rose grower.