Mistakes you make when growing roses
Roses are quite capricious plants. For them to please you with their lush blossoms as long as possible, it is necessary to follow all the rules of agrotechnics.
Any error in growing roses can weaken flowering and even kill the bush.
What mistakes most often lead to unfortunate consequences? The greatest difficulties for beginner gardeners cause the choice of the right place for the rose garden, watering and feeding, as well as diseases and pests of roses.
The place to plant roses
One of the main mistakes when growing roses is an unsuitable location for a rose garden. If the flower is placed in unsuitable conditions, you can not wait for a lush flowering from the queen of the garden.
How to choose the right place to plant roses:
- Wind. A site where roses grow should be well protected from draughts and cold northern winds. However, the complete absence of airflows is also not the best option, because rose bushes need good ventilation.
- Water. Roses should not be placed where rainwater will run off on them: under roofs, tree canopies, etc. A high groundwater level and permanent water stagnation will also not be good for the development of the plants: They will become diseased and may die. In this case, a good drainage system can save the plants.
- Sunshine. Most roses prefer sunny spots: They need at least 6-8 hours of sun a day to thrive. However, there are groups of roses, such as floribundas and climbing roses, that also do well in some shade. So when buying a new rose, be sure to find out which group it belongs to and what conditions it needs.
- Size. Polyanthemous, hybrid, and shrub roses, for example, need different amounts of space in the flower bed, as their bushes reach different sizes when mature. To ensure that the rose feels good in your garden and can show its full worth, always take the size of the adult shrub into account when planting and leave enough space in the flower bed.
Soil for roses
Improper soil can also lead to poor blooms. Roses need loose and nutritious soil for normal development. And the thickness of the nutrient layer should be at least 40 cm.
To enrich the soil, fertilizers are applied already at the stage of preparing the planting hole. 2-3 weeks before planting flowers, mix equal amounts of organic fertilizer (compost or humus) with soil (best option – slightly acidic loam) and fill the planting hole with this soil mixture.
If the site is heavy clay soil, then to loosen it, add lowland peat, sand, or coconut fiber to the hole. And do not forget to lay a layer of drainage from pebbles, broken bricks, or claydite on the bottom.
Watering roses
Roses are water-loving plants. If you want to get a large number of flowers, do not forget about the regular moistening of bushes. In summer, in hot weather, water the roses once a week, and if you have sandy soil, even more often – once every 3-4 days. Each time you water, make sure the soil has soaked to a depth of at least 20-30 cm.
Roses can be watered in various ways: with a hose, a watering can, or with a drip system. But in all cases, make sure that the water jet hits the soil at the roots of the plant and not the leaves or flowers: Soaked leaves can cause fungal diseases.
How to trim roses in the garden correctly
Roses for abundant flowering need not only regular watering but also constant fertilizing. Additional nutrition begins in the spring after the frost is over. As soon as the snow melts, fertilize roses with ammonium nitrate or urea (20-30 g per 1 sq. m.). Thereafter, fertilize roses on average once a month.
In summer, roses need primarily phosphorous and potassium to encourage a large number of buds and to allow them to flower for a long time. To enrich the soil with these nutrients, water the flowers with a nutrient solution of superphosphate (20 g) and potassium sulfate (30 g) dissolved in 10 liters of water. Ready-made mineral preparations for roses or flowering plants, such as Fertica for roses or Agricola Aqua, can be used for fertilizing.
Remove inflorescences from roses
One technique that helps prolong the blooming of roses is the removal of inflorescences. If you do not regularly remove wilted blossoms, the rose will direct its nutrients to seed ripening (nature intended) and this will reduce the quality of the bloom.
If the number of wilted flowers is high and there isn’t enough time to remove them, simply cut back the whole bush by a few centimeters. In a few weeks, the plant will recover and grow a large number of new buds.
Rose pests
Inspect your rose bushes regularly to detect insect pests in time. They feed on the sap of various parts of the plant and weaken the bush, resulting in poor flowering. In addition, they spread all kinds of diseases and can kill the rose.
At the first sign of pests, you need to start dealing with them. At first, you can try folk remedies to combat rose pests: wood ash, baking soda, manganese, garlic, or horsetail. If the army of pests has strongly multiplied and already seriously threatens the health of the bush, you will have to use insecticides – chemical preparations for insect control.
Cleaning up diseased plants
When inspecting roses, pay attention not only to insects but also to signs of lesions of various diseases. The fight against rose diseases includes the obligatory treatment of roses with biological or chemical preparations, but it does not end there. Another technique that helps to defeat the disease is to remove the diseased parts of the plant, or – if severely affected – the whole bushes. They should be taken out of the plot or burned. Otherwise, the pathogens will be in the soil, overwinter in the ground, or on plant debris and your rose garden will be sick again next year.
If you manage to avoid the above mistakes, your roses will bloom to your delight. And if you’re just thinking about starting your own rose garden, take a look at our tips.