Planting roses

From Gardening Wiki

Contents 1 Planting Roses 2 Soil for Rose Planting 3 Width of Rose Beds 4 Preparation of Rose Beds 5 Time to Plant Roses 6 Rose Planting Distance 7 How to Plant a Rose

Planting Roses

Learn how to prepare soil for planting roses, prepare rose beds and plant roses.

Soil for Rose Planting

The soil best suited for Roses is usually considered to be a medium heavy loam, especially for hybrid perpetuals, briers and climbers. The hybrid teas and teas prefer a lighter soil, a sandy loam. The hybrid perpetuals, hybrid teas and teas require perfect drainage.

Width of Rose Beds

Roses are best planted in beds. If they are to be worked from both sides, five or six feet is wide enough and three feet is the proper width for beds against the walls. Beds that are too wide necessitate stepping in them when picking the blooms or when cultivating. Narrow beds are poor because of the intrusion of grass roots upon the nourishment which would otherwise go to the Roses. If possible it is best to reserve the Rose beds for Roses alone and not attempt growing many other things.

Preparation of Rose Beds

Dr. Huey of Philadelphia, a noted veteran rosarian, says that it is much better to put a fifteen-cent Rose bush hi a fifty-cent hole than to put a fifty-cent Rose bush in a fifteen-cent hole. The preparation of the beds should take place in the Fall in order that the soil may have an opportunity to settle.

All Rose beds should be dug eighteen inches or two feet deep. The subsoil should be loosened and thoroughly manured, then fill in to over half the depth with manured top soil over which spread a good layer of compost. By compost we mean soil which has been thoroughly en- riched by manure (one barrow of manure to three of soil) and bonemeal; this should be allowed to become thoroughly incorporated with the soil, piling alternate layers of soil and manure and allowing to remain for a few months or a year. Lastly, the top layer may be any good soil. When the bed is finished it should be two or three inches above the normal level. The main secret of successful Rose growing lies in the proper preparation of the bed.

Time to Plant Roses

Spring is the best time to plant the hybrid teas and teas. If the beds have been carefully prepared the previous Fall, the soil will get into good condition quickly. The nursery stored plants can be set out as soon as land can be worked. The pot-grown stock, if it is not crowded, can well be kept till May.

These latter plants are growing and there is no necessity for giving a check by planting in open ground sooner. If the stock is frosted when received, cover the whole plant with soil until the frost is drawn out.

The plants are often rather dry when received; the bark is shriveled or the roots brittle. If the whole plant is either buried in soil or placed in water before planting, it will be greatly benefited. In planting, remove all buds which may be present upon the roots of those which have been budded and prune the broken roots. All tops should be severely cut back so that each bears three to six eyes; this is especially necessary and should not be neglected. The roots should be spread naturally and in the case of budded plants, so placed that the point budded is two or three inches below the surface of the soil. It is absolutely necessary to plant very firmly; the soil must be filled in about the roots most carefully and made solid. The hole should not be entirely filled, but the plant should be watered, after which dry soil is placed on top to prevent baking.

Rose Planting Distance

Teas are best planted fifteen inches, hybrid teas eighteen inches, hybrid perpetuals three feet, and rugosas or Moss Roses four feet apart. Varieties will differ greatly as to the amount of space needed.

How to Plant a Rose

The prospective rose grower should set about the preparation of his beds and soil, so that everything shall be in readiness for planting operations as soon as the roses arrive from the grower.

Roses require a good soil. A famous grower gives the following definition of the most suitable medium for roses, and it so accurately describes what is necessary that I pass it on. He says the soil should be a rich, loam a loam which, when it is pressed between the thumb and finger, does not crumble, but kneads like a piece of putty ; it must not be clay, although approaching it closely.

It must not be too light and sandy, so that it cannot retain moisture, and it must not, on the other hand, be so heavy as to be in danger of becoming waterlogged. A rich loam, with a suggestion of clay in its composition, is the ideal soil, and every effort should be made to secure it either by adding fine soil, road grit, and ashes, where the ground is too heavy, or by adding rich loamTanoT clay where it is deficient in these properties, and is therefore too light.

Two or three weeks before planting the beds should be deeply dug and left rough upon the surface. Deep trenching is essential, and during this process a good quantity of well-decayed manure should be incorporated with the soil. Diagram 8 will give the reader a clear idea of the proper method of planting. The cardinal principle to keep in mind is that the roots must have plenty of space, as shown in Figure 1, and not be crushed and cramped as indicated in Figure 2. In the case of standards, a stout stake should be placed in the centre of the hole before the tree is planted, and not afterwards. Figure 5 shows the dire effects which follow the latter practice. The holes for the reception of the trees should not be made too deep.

The plant must be placed in the ground depth to cover, when filled in, the junction where It has been budded, the object being to make the rose itself throw out roots and become self-supporting. The neglect of this precaution is often responsible for the throwing up of suckers from the Manetti or briar stock, which rob the tree of its strength.

Another rule to bear in mind is that manure should never be placed in contact with the roots. It must be remembered that for some time after planting the roots will be practically dormant, and if manure be placed near them it may induce fungus and cause the young tendrils of the roots to rot.

Firm planting is necessary. When the roots have been carefully spread out on the base of the hole they should be covered wil two or three inches of fine soil and trodden firmly down. It is a good plan where it can be obtained, and especially if the season be damp, to fill in immediately round the roots some fibrous material, such as small pieces of old turves and the refuse from the potting- "" bench. This prevents the wet soil from forming a cake round the roots and choking them. When all the trees have been securely planted a layer of well-rotted littery manure may be placed over "the bed, and as a precaution against hard weather it will be advisable to draw the soil up round the collar of the plants. This especially is wise in the case of Tea roses, which are prone to suffer severely in periods of sharp frost.

If the trees should arrive when the ground is not in a suitable condition to receive them that is to say when it is too wet, or is frost-bound it is a mistake to allow oneself to be flurried into committing them to the soil, in the belief that immediate planting is necessary. As soon as the plants arrive unpack them carefully, and " heel " them in. This means that a small trench is dug in a spare piece of ground, the roots laid in carefully and covered over with soil. The adoption of this precaution will prevent the roots from becoming dry, and will preserve them until such time as the ground in your rose-bed is in a fit condition to receive its future occupants.