To ensure healthy roses you must first plant them well. You must plant the rose as soon as possible but if the roots are dry, immerse in a bucket of water for an hour before planting. The hole must be big enough for the roots to spread out evenly. Fill in with a fertiliser-rich soil, firm down and you’re away!
White Roses
For container-bought roses, the planting process is the same – they just need to be watered every day until they look settled. For climbers and ramblers, dig a hole about a foot from the wall and spread the roots facing away (this will encourage healthy growth). Tying to a trellis or stake is essential for these and for standard roses in order to prevent wind damage.
Plants respond well to loving care and attention, repaying you with beautiful blooms during their flowering seasons. During March you must pay special attention to your sprouting roses – they should be pruned where needed, fed and watered. The feed should be spread evenly over the root area, not just near the stem, and kept moist.
Red Roses
As roses tend to be hungry plants, feeding is important – growers tend to use a slow-release feed to make sure they never starve. By April you need to start looking for signs of diseases, especially greenfly. A healthy plant is less likely to succumb to such diseases – nevertheless an insecticide should be used to help keep diseases at bay. Also ensure the plant doesn’t get choked with weeds by using a paraquat weed-killer like Weedol. This type can be sprayed right up to the rose’s main stem without damaging the rose bush, but do not get the spray on the new growths.
During May your roses should really start to grow, but keeping on top of mildew, blackspot, aphids, bugs and rust is essential for a perfect bloom. Those can be controlled with a combined spray such as Multi-rose, which contains both insecticide and fungicide.
From June through to August all your hard work pays off as your plant rewards you with bloom after bloom. To get the most flowers, make sure you dead-head all faded clusters, but be careful not to snip off the flower bud – just cut back the stem to two or three leaves below the faded flower. This ensures that new shoots emerge and grow another shower of flowers.
Planting Roses
As the colder months hit make sure you prepare your roses by tidying up any debris – prune and cut back to the stems, and tie them neatly to prevent wind damage. In colder areas it is also a good idea to cover the roots with mulch and straw to protect them from frost. You can uncover them again at springtime for a new year of gorgeous roses!
