view cart • checkout

Home > Learn > How to Grow Roses

How to Grow Roses

Water Food Soil Pruning What's Bugging My Roses?

Just like people, roses need a few basic things to live: water, food and the right place to set down roots. How well your roses grow depends entirely on the quantity and quality of those three ingredients.

There are as many variations on how to grow roses as there are authors of this information. So, which methods should you use? This will be up to you. To help you decide, first arm yourself with some basic biology. Learn how soil and water feed plants. Most good gardening books cover this fundamental information. Then, seek out successful gardeners, and ask them their secrets -- most love to talk about their "special techniques and recipes."

Just remember the three basic ingredients that roses need: water, food and good soil. And pay attention to your roses -- you'll soon recognize when they are in need of something, and experience will help you figure out what that "something" is. Don't worry, this isn't rocket science -- it's fun!

Water

Roses, love water! Your roses should each have the equivalent of at least one-inch of water each week during the growing season. This equates to roughly one gallon of water. So, if it doesn't rain, or rain enough, be sure to give your roses a weekly drink of water. However, make sure that they aren't "standing" in water or their roots will rot. Moist, well-drained soil is ideal.

Consistent moisture is also very important. Allowing the soil to dry out between waterings can adversely affect your plants growth and blossom production.

Food

For a rose plant to achieve its full blooming potential, it needs adequate amounts of basic nutrients. Here's a step-by-step guide that outlines a basic feeding program to help ensure that your roses get what they need to provide you with the show of blossoms that you want.

Step 1: Understanding Fertilizers

The basic ingredients in well-balanced fertilizers are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK). These are listed as numbers on fertilizers labels: 5-5-5. NPK are the building blocks of life for plants. Nitrogen promotes new, green growth; phosphorous helps with root growth, photosynthesis and flower production; and potassium helps to strengthen canes, improve vigor and increase winter hardiness. We recommend using slow-release organic fertilizers to prevent "burning" your roses. Many water-soluble, nonorganic fertilizers with high nutrient content (such as, 20-20-20) can be too much for your roses and cause the leaf tips to "burn" and turn brown, or cause the leaves to fall off completely.

Step 2: Selecting Fertilizers

Before you start fertilizing, select the right ingredients. Our list of recommended fertilizers includes:

1. A basic granular, organic or natural-based fertilizer with a balanced nutrient ratio in the single digits (example: 5-5-5). This fertilizer provides the basic NPK and micronutrient building blocks for plant growth and bloom. There are many acceptable brands available. Avoid fertilizers with manufactured chemical ingredients, like Urea. These can burn your plants and don't do anything to build up your soil.



2. Bone Meal or rock phosphate. Helps promote blooms.



3. Fish/Kelp liquid fertilizer. Fish provides a nitrogen source and kelp adds necessary trace minerals.



4. Alfalfa meal or tea. Alfalfa contains triconatol, which promotes plant growth. Alfalfa also conditions the soil.



5. Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate). Promotes enzyme activity in the soil, and also promotes more basal breaks in roses resulting in more blossoms.



6. Compost. Feeds the soil by adding organic matter and basic nutrients, which will improve the soil and soil life. Nutrients in healthy, living soil are more easily absorbed by plant roots.

Step 3: Feeding Schedule

Basic rule of thumb: If possible, apply fertilizers either right after it rains to help move it through to soil to the plant roots.

1. First Feeding in Spring:

   As soon as spring arrives and you can dig in the soil a bit (usually April 1-15 in Zone 4), give your roses their first feeding of fertilizer. Apply the fertilizers in a circle around the perimeter of the plant (about 1-2 feet from the center of the plant). Gently pull back the mulch in the dripline circle and gently scratch the fertilizers listed below into the first one-inch of the soil surface (be careful not to injure the tender feeder roots that are close to the soil surface).

   For each plant apply:

   1. 1/4 cup Epsom salts
   2. 1/2 cup bone meal or rock phosphate
   3. 1 or 2 cups of basic granular organic fertilizer
   4. 1/2 cup alfalfa meal or pellets
   5. A shovelful or two (or three) of compost (be generous). Apply this over the top of the other fertilizers. Compost can also serve as a mulch to help retain moisture, inhibit weeds and keep the soil surface temperature from getting too hot.

    

2. Summer Monthly Feeding Program:

   Basic rule of thumb: Apply fertilizer once a month throughout the growing season, making sure to stop feeding at least six weeks before the first frost.

   About one month after the first feeding in spring (around May 1 in Zone 4), apply either one cup of dry fertilizer or one gallon of fish/kelp liquid fertilizer once a month throughout the growing season. Be sure to stop all feeding at least six weeks before the first frost. This helps your roses "harden off" for winter by reducing or eliminating new, tender growth that can be damaged by frost. Scratch all dry fertilizers into the first one-inch of the soil surface (be careful not to injure the tender feeder roots that are close to the soil surface). Sprinkling a shovefull of compost around the base of the plant is an extra step your roses will appreciate.

Soil

The first thing to understand about soil is that it is full of life, from microbes to earthworms. Healthy soil is alive with millions of microscopic creatures that break down nutrients and make them available to plants. The key to healthy soil, like heatlhy plants, is food and water. Lots of organic matter, such as compost, will increase the health of your soil and, thus, of your plants.

The second thing to understand about soil is its pH: whether its acidic, neutral or alkaline. pH can affect how nutrients move through the soil to your plants. Roses prefer a soil pH that is between 6.5 and 7.0, which is slightly acidic to neutral (7.0 being neutral).

If you've provided your roses with adequate amounts of water and food and it is showing signs of chlorosis, or yellowing, the first thing to do is have your soil pH checked. A neutral pH makes the nutrients, especially important micronutrients like iron, more readily available to the plants. If the soil is too acid or alkaline, it binds the iron, making it unavailable to the plant. This may cause the chlorosis or other problems. If the pH is acid, add lime; if it is alkaline, add sulphur. Check with your local county extension agent for information about getting your soil tested and how to correct a pH problem.

Pruning

Once your roses are established you may want to do some maintenance pruning. Every spring, prune out the dead wood. Dead wood is brown and dry on the inside, so prune until you see green on the inside of the canes. In colder climates, some roses may die back to the "snowline" and will need the dead tops removed. If you're not confident about what's dead and what's alive, wait until the plants leaf-out. Then you'll know for sure.

Other than cleaning out dead wood, most old garden and shrub roses don't need much yearly pruning. However, you may want to prune your oses to control their shape. When you do this, be sure to prune once-blooming roses after they bloom. If you want rose hips, don't prune after blooming.

In addition, some shrub roses may seem to bloom less after about 5 or 6 years. They may have lots of large canes that just don't seem to bloom like they used to. To remedy this, prune back the top of the plant by one third, and remove some of the largest canes. This will encourage the rose to grow new canes that will produce plenty of blossoms.

To learn more about pruning, check out our on-line magazine article on Pruning.