Planting Advice

Roses look wonderful, smell terrific, are easy to grow and hardy, which means they can be left outdoors and flower year after year. Give them lots to eat and drink, a bit of love and appreciation and you've cracked it! There are hundreds of cultivars and colours to choose from,so the first step is deciding where to plant them in your garden

Choosing a Site

Roses will grow in almost any type of well-drained, reasonably fertile soil.
Choose a position that gets full sun, or at least half the day in the sun, and which is sheltered from strong winds but away from trees or large shrubs. If you are replacing old roses with new,remove as much of the old soil as possible and replace with soil that has not grown roses before.(The old soil will grow any other plants.)

Planting

PREPERATION & PLANTING TIME: 30 MINS

Container-grown roses can be planted year round into ordinary soil,provided it is not excessively dry, waterlogged or frozen.Plant bare-root roses (not in pots) only between October and early April.

Dig a hole large enough to cover all the roots-about a spade's depth-and loosen the soil around the hole with a fork. Improve the backfill soil by mixing in organic matter (garden compost, manure or proprietary rose and shrub compost) for good root growth.

Place the rose in the centre of the hole,carefully teasing out the roots of container plants and ensuring the roots of bare-root plants are well spread out.Lay a small cane across the planting hole to ensure that the graft union (swelling) is at,or slightly below,soil level.If no graft union is visible,plant at the same level as it was in the pot.

 

Half fill the hole with soil,gently tread it in and add a little water. Replace the rest of the soil,tread it down firmly, then water.

Roses like to have space and air,so correct spacing will help ensure optimum growth.

Check the label or catalogue for recommendations.

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