You’ve probably seen pictures of other people’s magnificent rose gardens, but would you be able to produce such roses from your own flower gardening efforts? If you research and pay attention to the multitude of gardening tips that are available to you, it’s very likely that you can do this.
There are tips to teach you about everything from providing rich organic soil, to how to water (once a week only, with about an inch of water), to how to fertilize and prune your roses.
In addition to regular watering and good soil, you’ll also need proper fertilizer for whichever rose bushes you have. Start around March or early April, and then do another feeding in May, and another in June or early July.
The nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium ratios vary. For hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, climbers and polyanthas, each bush needs half a cup with a 10-20-20 ratio for each feeding.
Miniature rose bushes, on the other hand, need a slightly different combination of 1 tablespoon of 10-20-20 sprinkled the first time, then one cup of a 20-20-20 ratio of soluble fertilizer for the second and third feedings.
Shrub and old garden roses only need the 20-20-20 mix in the spring, or possibly again after the first blooming. Following these tips can help the plants to grow strong.
Pruning roses is done when the plants are dormant, such as in the spring just before they start to grow again. To encourage lush growth, cut all but the healthiest stalks, leaving no more than five, and cut those remaining stalks to between 12 and 24 inches.
One exception is when you first plant a rose bush, as you are encouraged to remove all new flower buds for the first two months, so the energy goes into making the plant strong. You’ll also want to research other rose gardening tips about how to cut back the stalks in the spring; only the healthiest three or five are retained after the winter, as this will make your bushes more lush through the summer.
You might value a couple of helpful rose gardening tips as well, when it comes to preparing roses for winter. For most, in all but the coldest zones, it’s likely enough just to strip all foliage off, tie the canes together, and pile mulch and extra soil around the base.
But in colder zones, for container and climbing roses especially, you can dig a trench and lay them on their sides, covering them with soil and a deep blanket of leaves. These methods will keep your rose nurseries and gardens safe until early spring, when it’s time to start the process all over again.