Roses are one of the most rewarding plants to grow and care for. So many colours, varieties and many with truly wonderful scents. Roses are the perfect way to add beauty and scent to a sunny spot in any garden or patio!
Here are our top tips on planting and maintaining roses for a maximum flowering year after year:
Position
A sunny, open position with minimal trees and shrubs in the bed or border (as they will compete for water, light and nutrients) is perfect for all types of roses.
Planting
Dig a hole twice the size of the rose pot. Incorporate growing media such as garden compost or well-rotted farmyard manure into the planting hole. Mix a slow-release fertiliser into the soil before positioning the plant. Finish by backfilling with soil and applying a mulch of garden compost around the base. You can use a cane to prop your rose so it grows straight up.
You will need:
- Organic Matter (garden compost or well-rotted farmyard manure)
- Slow-release Rose Food Fertiliser
- Spade
- Small cane (depending on the height of your plant)
Care
Roses are a particularly hungry shrub and require frequent watering and feeding as young plants and during the growing season. If you allow to dry out, there is a risk of pest and disease problems like rust, powdery mildew and aphids.
Specific rose fertilizers are available to use but an all-purpose liquid feed can also give roses a quick boost if you want to feed them alongside other plants.
Dead-head regularly throughout the season to encourage and maximise your rose flowering time. Carefully weed around the base often avoiding any disturbance to the roots near the surface.
Rose Pruning
Gap Photos 2018
Pruning
Each type of rose requires a different pruning technique. Our plant team are always on hand to offer guidance.
Top tip: Cuts should be no more than 5 mm above a bud and should slope away from the bud to avoid water collecting in the bud.
Perfect Partners
Some plants are just made for each other. Good rose partners are those that hide their bare stems. Traditionally Lavandula (chosen to ward off aphids) and tall growing Dianthus or Salvias make good partners. Roses love garlic so members of the onion family such as chives, ornamental alliums are rumoured to increase their scent, ward off aphids and prevent black spot. Marigolds may also repel pests and encourage growth.
Top tip: Remember to plant rose companions at least one foot away from your roses so that you do not disturb their roots.
At Perrywood we have a wide range of roses available, including:
Shrub roses – tough and hardy these roses have an old English rose character, great for repeat flower, perfect for mixed borders, pots and containers
Hybrid tea rose – These upright shapely modern shrub roses are ideal for the front of a border or for large containers. They have double flowers, in single or small clusters.
Rosa ‘Mum in a Million’
Floribunda rose – Loosely bushy in shape, these colourful Floribunda roses repeat flower in masses throughout the summer and are suitable at the front of a border or in a large patio tub.
Rosa ‘Arthur Bell’
Climbing roses – are usually vigorous, and often bear scented blooms. Many repeat-flower from early summer into autumn. They are great for bringing a vertical accent to the garden, covering walls.
Rosa ‘Blush Noisette’
Rambling roses – are perfect for covering a large wall or pergola, or growing into the canopy of a large, established tree. They produce large clusters of usually small, and often fragrant flowers attractive to pollinators.
Patio roses – Patio roses are small and ideal for containers or mass plantings and will flower all summer. They grow from 30-60cm (1-2ft) high
Rosa ‘Flower Power Gold’Occasion favourites – a long lasting and thoughtful gift for wedding, anniversary and special birthdays. We stock ‘Birthday Girl’, ‘Happy Golden Wedding’, ‘Together Forever’, ‘Wedding Bells’ and ‘Remembrance’ to name a few.
Rosa ‘Warm Wishes’
