Soil for roses

On the whole roses love clay, enjoy a well balanced loam, tolerate sandy conditions but will struggle in chalk. Very sandy and chalky soils will need improving. Roses prefer a neutral to acid soil, a pH of around 6.5 but are very happy on the margins of this. A pH of 7 or below indicates an acid soil that would benefit from the addition of garden lime or mushroom compost. Like wise an alkaline soil will require improvement a well rotted farmyard manure or composts are ideal but not always readily available, peat is also good but as a finite resource should be avoided if possible, there are some very good peat substitutes available instead.

Soil should be well dug in advance if possible and it is at this stage that any additions can be made.

How you can expect to receive roses

Please Note: Bare-root roses are tied in bundles. If you have ordered more than one rose please cut the string holding the roses together and separate carefully before planting.

Roses should not be planted when their roots are dry nor should they be planted during frost. If it is frosty when you receive them, they should not take any harm left unopened in their package for up to one week. If it remains frosty for longer than this open the package and, after moistening the roots, place the roses – still in their bundle – in a container of damp soil or damp sand. A wooden box, bucket or large polythene bag will usually hold enough soil for this purpose. Plant out the roses when the frost has disappeared. If the roses arrive when it is not convenient for you to plant them, they should be ‘heeled in’ out of doors the moment the weather permits.

Heeling in your roses for bad weather

If your bare root rose order arrives in a period of heavy frost it is going to be very difficult to plant it. Therefore, in preparation for it’s arrival have an area of soil covered with an old piece of carpet or something the frost is unlikely to penetrate, in which the rose maybe ‘heeled in’ until it is able to be planted. When it arrives dig a trench deep enough to cover all the roots. Lay the rose against the side of the trench on which you have mounded the soil and simply dig more soil over the roots, compressing the soil as you go.

How to plant a bare root rose

How to plant bare root roses

For a bare root rose the hole should be wide enough to allow the roots to be spread out and deep enough so that the base of the stems are just covered. If required, the addition of proprietary rose food or bone meal, into the base of the hole, should be done now. A handful is enough and this should be mixed in with the soil there to avoid root scorch. A little powdered food can also be sprinkled onto the removed soil before it is returned.

How to plant a container rose

The same depth applies for a potted rose, with the first inch or so of the branches below soil level, and the hole wide enough for the root ball, there is no need to tease the roots out but better to leave the root ball intact. If purchased early in the summer season (before June) it is wise to leave the rose in it’s pot to give the roots time to establish.

Specific rose replant disorder / Rose replant disease

Planting a rose in a cardboard box to avoid replant disease

Unfortunately roses should never be planted where they have been before, unless the ground is given adequate rest or is treated. The old fashioned method of treatment was Jeyes fluid but there are other products available that are less harmful including a tar based product. If leaving the ground to rest a period of two or more years will be required. In the mean time plant the area with other plants such as begonias which, it is said, have cleansing properties.

The alternative is to dig out and replace the soil from elsewhere in the garden, or import fresh soil.

You could also dig a hole large enough for a bio-degradable cardboard box, no smaller than 1 cubic foot in size and fill with fresh soil. The box should be sunk into the ground in the position where you wish to plant your new rose and filled with good virgin soil or compost. Plant your rose in the centre of the box at normal planting depth.

Planting roses in pots

As a rough guide, for smaller shrubs which grow up to 3ft, use pots with a 14 – 16 inch diameter. For larger ramblers and scramblers use pots with a depth of up to 20 – 22 inches.

As with planting roses into the ground the base of the stems should be just below the surface of the soil. If using a ready made compost it would be wise to choose one that is soil based. Always add drainage to the bottom of the pot, shingle is fine, roses hate to have their feet in water. Leave enough distance from the edge of the pot to the compost to allow for watering without compost spillage, a couple of inches is advisable.

Every year when the rose is dormant, compost should be scraped away to a depth of a few inches and replaced. Then, about every three years or so the dormant rose should be removed and all the compost replaced.

Transplanting mature roses

1. Prepare the area well. 2. Prune the rose as hard as possible, leaving some younger wood. 3. When digging up the rose, try to retain the soil as a ball around the roots. It is likely that some roots will be damaged in this process but as long as most of the fibrous roots remain intact this should not cause too much concern. 4. Plant with care, being careful not to break up the root ball when treading the soil down. 5. Water well and thereafter, regularly to help the roots establish quickly.

Planting shrub/bush roses

Shrub roses should be planted at the closest 60cm (2ft) apart.