Feeding Your Roses by Diane Brueckman
T
David Austin Roses
here are two schools of the market. Using a combination of thought on feeding roses. organic fertilizers will provide the ‘Olivia Rose Austin’ One thought is to feed roses the micro-nutrients they need. Organics can also be applied at any the soil with organic fertilizers, the other is to use commercially time including late in the season. I like to give my roses a dose of my produced synthetic fertilizers. I have become completely organic “chicken soup” for roses in fall before I cover them, just to give with my fertilizer program, in part because I am lazy. The chance of them a quick start in spring as the soil warms up. making a mistake with organic material is less than with synthetic There are several advantages to products, which can burn the roses using organic products in the garden. if applied too close to the bud union Organics tend to stabilize the soil pH and keep the soil alive with or gets directly on the foliage. However, both methods of feeding micro-organisms. It is very important that plants have the microyour roses will produce beautiful roses. nutrients available. When you feed the soil all the nutrients are
One of my favorite “fertilizers” is a 2-4” layer of single ground wood chips with some green material mixed in. If you are able get wood chips from tree trimmers, these usually contain leaves. Most of the time the tree trimmers are only too happy to dump a load. The raw wood chips mulch is the fertilizer used in the EarthKindtm Rose Trials. Look for products such as Milorganite, kelp, alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, bone meal or one of the mixed products on
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available for the plants to take up as needed. It is less likely that you will burn your plants or overdose them with excess nutrients. Nitrogen is very important for all plants but in the case of roses too much nitrogen can give excessive green growth, which encourages black-spot and insects such as aphids.
I started out with synthetic chemical fertilizers when I worked at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I applied 12-12-12 to the roses in spring, when I uncovered the roses and again, after their first bloom (about 6 weeks later). The application rate depends on the size of the bush, ½ cup per hybrid tea, ¼ cup per miniature rose and ¾ to 1 cup for climbers. In spring, I also gave each rose bush 1 or 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts to help promote basal breaks (new growth from the bud-union). In the heat of summer, I would give the roses a liquid feed of a bloom booster fertilizer like Peters 10-30-20. An alternative to 12-12-12 is Osmocote, a time-release product. This product does not need to be applied as often. Never apply granular nitrogen after August. A liquid feed of a bloom booster is OK to get that late season bloom. This regimen works well but care has to be taken to prevent burning the roses and it is possible to miss some of the micronutrients. The time-release products release their nutrients with water. However, too much water can release more nutrients than is good for the rose at one time, leaving the roses hungry until the next time they are fed. Another side effect was damage to the soil. Using synthetic chemicals won’t feed the microorganisms in the soil, leading to fewer microorganisms and less healthy soil. They can also change the pH of the soil, making testing for pH necessary more often.
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Diane Brueckman is a retired rosarian with Missouri Botanical Garden, and currently owns Rosey Acres in Baldwin, Illinois. You can reach her at (618) 785-3011 or droseyacres@ egyptian.net.
The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2022
