As exciting as it is to get new roses for your garden, sometimes your ordered plants arrive too early for planting – especially if you purchase them directly from a grower. Spring weather conditions can also be unpredictable, and a cool spell may delay your planting plans.
When cold, early spring weather doesn’t permit you to plant in the garden, tell your bare-root roses to “heel” – you’ll be glad you did come bloom time.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
If this happens to you, don’t panic – just move your container roses indoors to an unheated, sheltered spot until the inclement weather passes. But if you’ve got bare-root plants, hold them in dormancy by “heeling them in” – a rosarian’s term for storing them in the ground within an insulating blanket of wood chips or sawdust.
Heeling in your new arrivals is a simple process: Just buy some wood chips and follow the easy instructions shown in the pictures and described in their captions. When the weather permits, plant your bare-root roses in your properly prepared planting beds (or containers).
Heel in Roses - Step 1
Dig a V-shaped trench at least 32 inches deep in loose, semi-sheltered, well-drained garden soil.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Heel in Roses - Step 2
Fill the sides and bottom of the trench with 4-6 inches of moist wood chips or sawdust.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Heel in Roses - Step 3
Lay bare-root plants diagonally in the trench, with their roots along the trench’s bottom and their cane tops nearly to the soil surface.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Heel in Roses - Step 4
Fill the trench with additional wood chips, creating a mound 6-8 inches high. Lightly water the mound, gently working moisture into the chips with a garden fork.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Heel in Roses - Step 5
Lay a sheet of plastic over the mound, then cover it with soil. The roses will remain dormant in the dark, cool trench for up to 2 months.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
