Article: Basics of Rose Care

THE BASICS OF ROSE CARE

A magnificent garden full of roses is easy to achieve, even if new to gardening or not particularly green fingered. English Roses are straightforward to grow, care for and maintain. Let us take you through the basics of rose care to help you get the best out of your blooms, ensuring your roses will bring you pleasure for years to come.

A GREAT START

The best thing you can do to get your rose off to a great start is to select the right rose for the right location. Whether you are looking to grow a climber up the front of a house or to put a shrub in a mixed border, use the handy symbols on our website to help guide your choice. Roses are generally very robust and tolerant but every plant needs a good amount of sunlight, ideally at least 4 hours a day, and enough space to grow to its mature size. Feeding, mulching, deadheading and pruning your rose will then help it thrive in its location.

Planting a rose is easy to do and requires no expert knowledge. For detailed instructions on growing a rose in a pot turn to p.68. If you are planting a bare root rose you will need to soak its roots in a bucket of water for at least a couple of hours prior to planting, or ideally overnight. Whether you are planting a potted rose or a bare root rose, start by digging over the ground with a garden fork to loosen the soil, removing any large stones or weeds as you go. Next, dig a hole with a spade, about 40cm wide and 40cm deep, adding a spadeful of Carr’s Special Organic Soil Improver, or garden compost to the bottom of the hole. Remove your rose from its pot or the bucket where it is soaking, and sprinkle David Austin Mycorrhizal Fungi over the roots. This will encourage root growth and water uptake. Position your rose in the hole so that the point where the stems meet the roots sits about 5cm below the top of the hole. Backfill gradually around the roots of the rose, using a mix of soil improver or compost and soil. About a 50/50 mix will work well, using it to fill right up to the top of the hole. Once done, lightly firm in with your foot by pressing down gently around the base of the rose to secure it in place. Water it generously with a full watering can, aiming the water at the base of the rose rather than on the leaves. Your rose should settle happily into its new home.

SPRING

Take the opportunity to plan ahead and get your garden ready for summer, by planting bare root roses in the ground before the end of their season. Planting up until the start of April will still allow plenty of time for these dormant plants to establish, ready to flourish into bloom come summer. As the bare root season ends, and April starts, it is time to give your roses their first feed and mulch of the year, a quick and easy job. The spring feed is really important as it sets your roses up with the essential nutrients they need for the flowering season ahead. Feeding your roses is vital to promote healthy growth and encourage plentiful blooms. The right care and attention now will be worth every moment when you see the spectacular show put on by your roses in the coming months.

Feed your rose by sprinkling 30g of David Austin Rose Food onto the soil around the base and spreading it to the width of the canopy. Make sure to clear the ground of any old leaves and debris before you do this. Mix the food gently into the surrounding soil and water well. Follow with a 5cm thick layer of mulch around the base of the rose, again spreading it to the width of the canopy. It should sit over the area where you have just mixed in your food, adding a layer of protection. A good layer of mulch will provide further fresh nutrients which your rose needs and will also act as a natural weed suppressant. You can use garden compost, well rotted manure, or Carr’s Organic Soil Improver as your mulch material. General watering is unlikely to be required during the spring, as the plentiful British spring showers should do a fine job of keeping the ground sufficiently hydrated. If we do get treated to a little spring sunshine then roses in pots and containers may need a quick drink if their soil is looking a little dry. As spring progresses your roses should be putting on fresh new growth, this can often be red in colour but will turn green over time.

SUMMER

Summer brings with it the first flush of flowers in June. Your roses will perform, doing what they do best. A little deadheading will not only keep your rose bush looking tidy, but it will also encourage more blooms to follow. Remove finished heads as and when you see them by simply pinching or snipping just below where the base of the flower joins the stem. After the flush of flowers is over you may wish to do a more in-depth deadheading session, removing the finished flowering heads by cutting the stem just above the first leaf with five leaflets. You can take this opportunity to cut back any particularly adventurous canes of growth, tidying up the shape of your rose as you go. The gap between flushes in July is also a good time to give your roses their second feed of the year. This will help replace nutrients in the soil and give the rose everything it needs to bloom a fabulous second flush of flowers. Potted roses can be planted happily all summer long, quickly adding colour and fragrance to any garden. Summertime means watering. This is true of everything in the garden. With roses, we suggest watering every other week, however hotter weather will require weekly watering, possibly even daily watering. Roses do not like to be overly wet but neither do you want their soil to be dry. The best time to water is in the early evening, after the heat of the day has passed. Roses will perform best if watered at the base of the plant, not over the foliage and we recommend using a full large watering can per plant. Roses in pots and containers will need extra attention during the summer, ideally watering them every other day.