Caring for Roses
The first step (after planting of course) is to ensure your rose is well fed. I’d recommend two to three shovels of compost or composted manure spread around the base of the rose (spread it from the trunk to eighteen inches away from the trunk).
Then just when you can see buds starting to form on the plant, give it a feeding of liquid fish emulsion. This will give the plant the boost to produce the next crop of flowers.
Water
Water is important when you're caring for roses because rose flowers are primarily water. Plan on putting an inch to an inch and a half of water around the rose each week. I’d recommend soaking the plant twice a week during the heat of the summer if you want to see continual bloom.
The next thing to do is prune off the dead flowers. This is not a particularly difficult thing to do. Cut off the dead flowers with a length of stem. This length of stem – how long to make it – is debated by rose growers endlessly. There’s research to promote both short cuts and long cuts.
The simplest way to decide is to always make the cut – short or long – the next bud that is facing outwards. Do try to make all the pruning cuts “roughly” the same length but this isn’t rocket science and I’d recommend you don’t obsess about differences (I don’t).
Shrub Roses
If you’re growing a shrub rose – do not bother to prune these monstrous bushes of the hundreds of blossoms it will produce. There’s better ways to spend a summer’s evening without the risk of scratching your arms to bits. And these bush roses will take care of themselves quite nicely (yes, it will look a little ugly for a week or two) but then – you get rose hips. Those big red, and very attractive, seed pods will decorate your shrub rose for the rest of the summer and fall(or until the birds get hungry). This is where not caring for roses pays off.
Relax! The rose is about to produce another crop of flowers.
Pruning
Repeat the pruning if necessary. Do take the time to smell the flowers.
Well, what about spraying? What about it? If you have a problem, you’ll find solutions to those problems on the left hand links but generally I never spray unless I see a problem – then I whack it with one of the organic controls listed. If you’re growing some of the modern disease resistant hybrids, you might not see problems until quite late in the summer so why bother.
Spraying for Bugs
What about spraying for bugs? What bugs? Spray for bugs when you see the bug-problem. Insecticidal soap, diatomaceous earth, rotenone and neem-oil will see you through any problem you’re likely to have. But don’t routinely spray as some writers will suggest. This is about enjoying your garden rather than obsessing over caring for roses.
What happens if I’m caring for roses all summer long but a bug eats one of my flowers? The bug is happy. The fact of the matter is that the bad insects that eat our roses have to live – at least a few of them do- so the good guys that eat them will live as well. All the insects out there have a plan in our eco-system so we want them all to live (just not to eat *all* the roses) because they’re all eventually tied into our lives and those of the birds and wildlife around us. Yes, you might lose a few blossom parts to pests but that’s no reason to nuke the place. Relax – it isn’t a competition, it’s a relaxing pastime.
So caring for roses is as simple as feeding, watering and doing a little pruning. Solve the problems that are presented and enjoy your garden.
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