Caring For Roses: Planting, Watering, Fertilizing, Pruning

Roses may be the most beloved, cared for, and fussed over plants and flowers in the gardening kingdom. Available in hundreds of colors, sizes, and scents, no garden is complete without a shrub rose or climbing rose. Or two.

One of the reasons we humans love roses so much may be that they’ve been with us since the dawn of human civilization. Roses date back about 35 million years, pre-human history, and garden cultivation began about 5,000 years ago. Roses still grow wild, but most cultivated roses for the home garden – those that bloom repeatedly throughout the season – can be traced back to China. It’s from this late 19th-century stock that most modern roses have been bred.

Roses can definitely be fussy. Others want to be left alone. Most are susceptible to pests and diseases, especially the dreaded Japanese beetle and certain fungal infections. If you’re going to take the plunge into rose gardening, it’s wise to bone up on rose care first. Take it from me: I killed 2 rose shrubs before I broke down and bought a book (knowledge = success). The climbing rose and shrub rose I planted since have thrived. Here are some basic guidelines for establishing and caring for your roses.

Types of roses

If you’re new to rose gardening, the first thing that may surprise you is that not all roses are fragrant. But those that are scented should not be passed up, even though they may be more delicate. Which type you choose depends on where you’re planting it and how much you want to fuss over it.

• Old garden roses are types grown in the nineteenth century and earlier. There are roughly 13 classes of garden roses, including Bourbon, Tea, Damask, and Centifolia. Most bloom only once a season, early in summer.
• Floribundas, Grandifloras and Hybrid Teas. Hybrid tea varieties with high-centered blooms, long stems, and a wide choice of colors date back to the mid-19th century. Floribundas and Grandifloras are more recent developments.
• Climbing roses and rambling roses can be trained to grow on trellises, arbors, buildings or anything vertical. They can also stand alone to form a mound.
• Miniature roses are very small, typically 8″-24″ high. The flowers, leaves, and thorns are miniature as well to scale with the flowers.

How to care for roses

Planting roses

Most roses thrive with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day, but some benefit from late afternoon shade. Before buying, check the plant tag to determine its light requirements. Bare root roses should be planted when daytime air temperatures are between 40-60F (that’s usually early spring). Roses in containers can be planted any time during the year except during a drought or when the ground is frozen or water-logged. 

Roses benefit from root washing before planting, whether bare root or in a container. First, remove all of the planting medium from the roots, being careful not to damage them. Then rinse the roots with a garden hose to remove the rest of the planting medium. Next, soak the bare roots in water for a few hours before planting.

When planting, dig a hole 2-feet wide and deep. Add 1/3rd compost to the soil – if it’s heavy clay, add additional compost to create a rich loam that drains well. Create a slight mound in the middle of the hole, place the rose in the middle of the mound with the roots trailing down. The soil line should be at the same depth as the rose was in the container. Fill the hole with the soil and compost mixture and gently press down with the palms of your hands. Mulch the root zone with 2″ of compost. Prune out any dead wood, but do not radically prune again until winter or early spring.

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How much water do roses need?

Roses need a considerable amount of water each week. In the absence of rainfall, water shrub roses and roses in pots with 1-3 gallons of water each week. Climbing, rambling and standard roses need 3-6 gallons each week.

• Always concentrate water in the root zones, as wet foliage can cause disease problems.
• In the spring, water newly planted roses every 2-3 days and established roses once a week.
• In the summer, water roses often enough to keep the ground around them moist but not soaking wet. If you notice that the flowers are wilting, that’s a good sign your plant needs more water.
• In the fall, water roses as needed until the plant goes dormant in cold temperatures.

Fertilizing Roses

Roses are demanding plants. To encourage abundant blooms and vigorous growth, roses should be fertilized in early spring right after pruning, during the first bloom period, and again by late July. Do not fertilize them after this point as new growth may not harden sufficiently before winter. Composted horse manure is the perfect food for roses or a general-purpose garden flower fertilizer is usually sufficient. Scratch fertilizer gently into the soil, being careful not to damage the roots, and water it in thoroughly after each application.

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Pruning Roses

Deadheading is a form of summer pruning to remove faded flowers before they can develop seed. This helps conserve the plant’s energy and encourages more blooms. Deadheading should only be done on vigorous, healthy plants. Never deadhead roses that are struggling or show signs of disease.

If your rose produces rose hips, you may not want to deadhead the flowers. Simply brush the dead petals off with your hand and allow the rose hips to form. They’re a beautiful winter display and a great source of food for wildlife. Rose hips can also be dried and ground and made into an herbal tea (they are very high in Vitamin C).

Deadheading during the first season differs from deadheading established roses. On a newly planted rose, remove the faded flower only above the uppermost 3-leaflet leaf to preserve the plant’s food manufacturing capacity – removing more may weaken a young plant. On established roses, the stem may be cut back to a 5-leaflet leaf, but retain at least two 5-leaflet leaves on each shoot. Cut 1/4 inch above an outward-facing bud and leaflet, cutting parallel to the angle of the leaflet. Do not deadhead after October 1 as you don’t want to encourage fresh new growth as winter approaches – it must harden off before freezing temps set in.

Spring and summer pruning: The type of rose you own and the time of year it blooms determine the type and amount of pruning. General pruning principles apply to all roses, but there are differences between classes (see links at the end of this post).

Here are the basic spring pruning guidelines for any type of rose. Most rose pruning is done in early spring before significant new growth occurs. A good rule of thumb is to prune right around the time forsythias start blooming in your area. The purpose of pruning is to create an open centered plant. This is done by removing dead, damaged, or diseased wood to increase air circulation, keep the shrub from becoming a tangled mess, shape the plant, and encourage the growth of flowering wood.

• Use a clean, sharp lopper, bypass pruner, or pruning knife.
• Prune rose canes and stems at a 45-degree angle about 1/4 inch above an outward-facing bud. The cut should slant away from the bud.
• Remove all dead or dying canes entirely. You’ll know them by their appearance: shriveled, dark brown or black.
• Remove all thin, weak canes that are smaller than a pencil in diameter.
• If grafted roses are producing sucker growth, remove it at the root. Dig down to where the sucker is originating and tear it off where it emerges from the root. Pruning suckers at ground level only encourages the growth of several suckers where the previous one was.