It’s true: Some roses can be difficult. But no matter which type of rose you’re planting – the happy-go-lucky or the finicky type – the best way to get it off to a good start is by planting it right.
You can grow a rose as lovely as this – you just need to plant it right!
Photo Credit: Stan V. Griep
Dig your planting holes about 18 inches wide and deep.
Photo Credit: Stan V. Griep
Using a garden fork, combine your native soils with amendments to create a good half-and-half mix.
Photo Credit: Stan V. Griep
Mound soil a good 6 inches up your rose’s canes for protection against early warming, late freezes and dehydration.
Photo Credit: Stan V. Griep
Add mulch over the top of the freshly mounded rosebush to help prevent erosion and lock in moisture.
Photo Credit: Stan V. Griep
In my Rocky Mountain garden, I plan way ahead for my roses – the previous fall, in fact. I do all the digging and amend the soils early so the mixture has the rest of fall and the entire winter to get fully activated. By the time I plant a new spring rose, its new home is all ready and in top condition to welcome it. Of course, you can wait and do it all this prep work in spring when you buy your roses, too – the soil just won’t be as optimum.
Here’s the process I go through to prepare my new roses for their new home in my garden:
- First, I dig the rose holes 18-20 inches wide and deep. Then I put the freshly dug soil in a wheelbarrow along with some compost, a good clay-busting amendment and a bit of play sand. (I use two 1-gallon buckets full of sand to improve drainage.) The end result is a mix of about 50 percent amendments and 50 percent native soils. I also sprinkle alfalfa meal over my wheelbarrow’s contents until the entire surface has a greenish color to it. (And I’ll add a heaping garden shovel full of rabbit droppings or other manure if it’s available.) Next, I use a garden fork to turn it all until it’s well-combined.
- Before filling the hole, I cut back and remove any and all existing roots inside of it. The digging process can really compact the sidewalls of the hole, so I use a hand cultivator to loosen the soils before refilling it with my freshly amended mix. (I loosen the soil sidewalls again after I re-dig the hole before planting in springtime, too.)
- Next, I refill the hole with my soil mix – always careful not to compact it. I leave a 5- to 6-inch mound of soil mix on the top and make a depressed circular edging at the outside edge of the mound to help catch any moisture and direct it into the newly amended soil. Then I let it sit until spring.
When spring rolls around and it’s time to plant, I just re-dig my holes – it’s much easier the second time around. I toss the fill into the wheelbarrow again and add ¼ cup of superphosphate fertilizers to the bottom of the planting hole and mix it into the soil there. I refill the hole about halfway and then sprinkle ½ cup of alfalfa meal and 1/3 cup Epsom salt inside, mixing it in lightly with the soils. Then I fill my trusty watering can and add the proper amount of SUPERthrive™ plant food and water the soils lightly. (The amount of the fertilizer you use depends on the amount of water in the can, so be sure to read and follow the label’s instructions carefully!)
Then comes the planting. When placing the rosebush in the potting hole, I make a small mound of soil in the bottom. The little hill gives the root system some needed support and helps eliminate air pockets. I like to make a pile of amended soils at one side of the planting hole. Once I have the mound in the bottom of the hole and the bush situated with the root system nicely supported, I can hold it in place with one hand and rake the soil in around the roots with the other hand. (This way, there’s no need to let go of the rose to get to the soil and then resituate.)
After that, I fill the planting hole the rest of the way up to ground level. (In my neck of the woods, all grafted roses are planted with the graft or union at least 2 inches below the grade line of the undisturbed soil around the planting site. I plant all my roses this way, but the grafted roses are the most important to get planted in this manner.)
To finish, I mound some of the soils up onto the rose canes about 6 inches high to help hold in the moisture. I also use the remaining soil to form a “bowl” of sorts all the way around the rosebush. This bowl area helps catch any moisture and directs it to the root zone. Once completed, the new planting reminds me of a castle with a moat around it.
