Location
 A well-drained sunny site (5 hours of sun or more) away from tree roots is best.  Provide well-drained soil with a high organic content.  Also provide good air circulation so leaves dry quickly to reduce chance of disease.  Avoid winter wind.

Soil Type
 The soil should be neither extremely light nor extremely heavy.  Either extreme may be improved by spading in liberal amounts of peat moss, compost, or other types of humus.  Sweet Peet mixed with the soil at a 1:1 ratio is an excellent planting mix for roses. Spade and mix these materials into the soil to a depth of 15-18″.  Soil pH should be 5.5-7.5, optimum 6.5.  If soil pH is below 5, incorporate lime at a rate of 5 pounds per 100 sq. ft.  If soil is above 7.5, incorporate sulfur at a rate of 5 pounds per 100 sq. ft.

Planting

  • Prepare bed as recommended.

  • Dig the hole much larger than the pot and mix in a small amount of bonemeal with the soil in the hole.

  • Carefully remove the pot (“plantable” pots also) without breaking the soil ball.  NOTE:  Bare-root roses require special handling and are not covered in this page.

  • Plant roses with its crown about 1 inch below the soil level and fill in around it gradually with soil while gently tamping soil.  Again, be careful not to break the root ball, and keep the crown uncovered.  It will appear the rose is in a funnel-shaped depression.

  • Space shrub, hybrid tea, grandiflora and hedge forms 2-3 feet apart, climbers 8-10 feet apart.

  • Finally, water the rose in well and mulch to keep down weeds, retain moisture and keep roots cool.  Peat moss is not as good as shredded bark or oak leaves used as mulch.  Also, protect plants from frost in Spring.  (back to top)

Watering
Water roses only when dry. Mulched roses will seldom need water.   When watering is necessary, soak the ground thoroughly and do not repeat for a week.  Stop watering mid-September so plant hardens off.

Suckers

These are undesirable shoots which originate below the graft.  Tear or cut these shoots close to the plant which will prevent more shoots from appearing.  

Fertilizing

An organic fertilizer such as Dr. Earth’s Rose & Flower or Espoma’s Rose Tone will be beneficial if applied just as the plant begins to grow in the spring, approximately April 1st, and again around July 1st.  These organic fertilizers should be worked into the soil around the drip line of the plant and provide slow release fertilization to your roses utilizing organic foods while the microbes work to unlock the phosphorus already in the ground.

Insect Control

A combination spray such as Bonide’s Rose Shield should be applied to roses at times when bees are not present.  Spraying should take place approximately 30 minutes prior to dusk in order to avoid bees.  The spray should always be sprayed under the leaf where insects are normally present.  The fungicides that are in Rose Shield are translaminar and will travel through the leaf to offer better preventative control.

Disease Control
The two main disease enemies of roses are black spot and powdery mildew. While not a severe problem with shrub roses or climbers, these two diseases are a plague especially to hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas which will cause the rose to lose lots of foliage and shut down blooming. Therefore, these diseases must be prevented. In early spring just before new growth starts, an application of lime-sulpfur spray to the rose and surrounding ground will kill black spot spores waiting to attack your roses. In addition, weekly alternating sprays of Bi-Carb and Fungonil used as directed will eliminate most black spot and mildew problems. Remember, while these two fungicides have some curative powers, prevention is the key.