Roses

Winter is the time when roses are available to the home gardener as bare root plants.

You can buy bare root roses directly from rose growing nurseries online, bagged bare root roses from your local garden centre and hardware store and if you wait until late winter to spring you can buy potted roses already established.

Soil Preparation
Your soil will need to be prepared a few weeks in advance of planting. Good quantities of Rocky Point Cow Manure Plus should be added and dug through the garden bed and watered in well. Continue to turn and water the garden bed in the lead up to planting.

The pH needs to be around 6.5 and this can be checked using a pH test kit.

Care at planting

If you are planting bare root roses, once you’ve dug the hole create a mound in the bottom of the hole. Once you have done this you can splay the rose’s roots over the mound. Then backfill with surrounding soil and more well-rotted cow manure (Cow Manure Plus is perfect).

If you are planting potted, more established roses, plant as you would any other potted shrub. Water in well with a seaweed/fish emulsion liquid fertiliser to reduce transplant shock.

Once planted, mulch with Rocky Point Sugar Cane Mulch or Lucerne Mulch. Water again.

Cultural tips

• The chosen position in the garden should be a full sun location with good airflow.
• Do a major tidy-up prune in winter (around July) when they are most dormant.
• Prune throughout the growing season by taking a longer stem when cutting flowers off or removing spent blooms.
• Fertilise in spring, summer, and autumn.
• Keep an eye out for fungal disease such as black spot and powdery mildew. Use an organic fungicide if these do arise.
• Insects such as aphids and scale can be dealt with by spraying with a horticultural oil.

 Looking for more great gardening info like this? Subscribe to the Better Earth Program to receive Better Earth Secrets Magazine direct to your inbox each season.