Garden roses are beautiful, but also very whimsical plants. They can grow indoors but will develop best outdoors. In order to make them look beautiful in our garden, it is worth to take care of them properly. Only then they will bloom and become our true pride.
If you do not know what soil is present in your plot, it is a good idea to buy soil for planting roses. A special mixture should be a combination of peat substrate and universal soil for flowers. It is also worth adding compost soil.
These flowers should be planted between March and April. However, many gardeners say that they may not survive slightly cooler nights. In early spring, the weather can be capricious and changeable, especially in our climate – one day it’s really hot and pouring from the sky, the next day the temperature does not even exceed 10℃. The buds that have recently emerged can therefore be quickly pacified by frost. To make your rose bloom beautifully in spring, it’s worth planting it in autumn. After overwintering you will get a beautiful and already rooted bush.
Planting location is as important as planting time. Choose a part of the garden that gets good sunlight and where the sun shines for at least 6 hours a day. Roses love sun, but not too strong, so semi-shaded and half-sun positions will prove perfect for them to grow.
A very important part of caring for garden roses is pruning. This allows new shoots to form and the bush to get the desired shape. It is a good idea to prune with a sharp secateurs in spring, when new stems have not yet bounced back and flower buds have not yet appeared. It is also worth removing blooms and all broken stems on a regular basis, so that the bush can focus on developing the flowers we want.
The pruning technique is equally important. We try to make diagonal cuts and make them about 0,5-1 centimeter above the bud, which is directed to the outside of the crown.
In order for the rose to bloom, it will be necessary to fertilize it. It is worth looking for elements in fertilizers such as
The timing of fertilization will be as important as the composition of the fertilizer we choose. Young roses, i.e. bushes that are not yet a year old, are not fertilized with mineral fertilizers. When the bush is well rooted and the first woody stems appear, you can fertilize it 2-3 times a season. It is best to do it before the season, in early spring.
Roses like to be watered quite a lot, especially on hot days. However, leave watering for the evening, because the water can evaporate quickly during a warm day. It is a good idea to water the shrub with a watering can, but also to sprinkle its leaves from time to time. During a hot week you should water the bush almost every day. During colder months do it less often – watering twice a week is enough.
Roses are quite delicate, so they don’t like minus temperatures. Our beautiful multi-season plant needs adequate protection to survive colder days. But you can’t cover it too early because overheating the bush will have the opposite effect to that intended. When a few days of frost occur during the month, then you are sure that the roses should be prepared for winter. At the base of the stems create a mound of leaf litter or peat about 20 cm high. Then wrap the branches in non-woven fabric (necessarily white) and protect it with a straw loaf or corrugated cardboard. The trunk, in turn, you can wrap with insulating material, but with a warm winter it will not be necessary. Before protecting the bush don’t cut the long shoots! With this treatment wait until spring.
Main photo: Felix Mittermeier/Pexels
