Garden Tips & Resources

Many love caring for roses, as roses are one of the most beautiful and beloved flowers that grace our gardens and our lives.  Sadly, roses are known for being a hard plant to care for.  While some rose plant owners find this to be true, others take steps to find out the proper care that is needed for their roses.

Roses do require regular attention to keep the plant looking its best but, after learning the proper steps in caring for roses, helping them look their best is easy.  The most basic necessity that most people understand that plants need is water.  Roses are no different as all plants do need water.  Roses will bloom and look their best if they are well watered.

When caring for roses, about one inch of water needs to be provided each week.  During this step, the root of the plant really needs to be considered.  Roses have roots that go deep into the ground.  Because roses have deep roots they are capable of extracting water from the sub-soil even when the surface is dry.  This aids them in bearing dry spells.

Watering the roots is recommended when caring for roses, because doing so helps them grow deeper into the soil.  At times when a gardener gives their roses light watering, the roots will only grow shallowly within the soil.  This results in the plant not being able to handle the drying of the upper layer of the soil due to droughts.

Caring for roses properly also means fertilizing.  Most species of roses are capable of going years without feeding when they are planted in good soil.  Plants feed on nutrients that are produced by organisms living in the soil.  By over using man-made fertilizers you can smother those beneficial bugs.  Also, the plants can become addicted to the fertilizers, forcing you to purchase more of them.

Instead, when caring for roses, gardeners can place a slow-release fertilizer to the soil after its dormancy time during early spring.  You can also apply a small bit of fertilizer after the blooms go away and the plant is storing up energy for next season.  However, do not use fertilizer when it’s past midsummer.  Roses grow well with both organic and inorganic fertilizers, albeit organic fertilizer materials can help your soil permanently become more fertile after these have been digested by the good bacteria and fungus in the soil.  The most effective combination of inorganic fertilizer is 5-10-5 or 4-8-4.

Trimming is tremendously vital in caring for roses.  It is commonly done in the spring, after the plant has been dormant in the winter.  At this stage pruning is done to remove the dead, broken, or diseased wood from the plant.  This gives the plant more room so air can travel through it and make it healthy.

Trimming is also performed to shape the rose plant.  The next stage of pruning occurs after the plant has bloomed.  Trimming the flowers themselves motivates growth, and cutting the flower buds makes way for a new plant.

Caring for roses does take time and commitment.  It also needs skill, patience, and knowledge.  But, there is nothing better than to be able to display your hard work for all to see.  The perks of being able to showcase these stunning creations right in your garden are truly priceless.

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