Rose Bush Care Expert Advice From The Pros

Roses and rose bushes have been adorning gardens since time immemorial, gardeners have grown spectacular roses inspiring many a great song or poem, filling our lives with romantic notions and dressing our holidays with luscious beauty. So we are going to be discussing some of the key elements to rose bush care. You may follow these tips and who knows, perhaps someday someone will be singing about your roses? Rose gardening can be very rewarding. You may even find yourself singing!

As with just about any endeavor in life the key to success is preparation. Ask any Boy Scout, your motto in gardening is also: be prepared. Now, the key to success in preparation is knowledge. The more you know about what to prepare for the better prepared you can be. So let’s find out as much as we can about the rose bush we need to care for.

Gardening, farming or just about any agricultural endeavor takes on different details, such amount of sun and spacing, according to what climate you live in.

For our convenience, The United States Dept. of Agriculture has provided us with a very nice interactive map where you can find out what growing zone you live in and make your preparations accordingly. I recommend visiting the site denoted below and learning as much as you can about your particular zone. You can always inquire at your local nursery or with other gardeners in your area.

Be sure to get as much information about pests that populate your area as well. Learn what works best with them then you can make a decision on what sort of pesticide or herbicides you may want to use. Your options are several including synthetic, organic and the pests’ natural enemies. This is one area you really want to be prepared for. Try to stop any infestation as soon as you can, your best tactic is daily inspections.

One of the most rampant enemies of the rose is the aphid. Here is a tip for protecting from aphids and a host of other pests. Use dish washing soap, yes that’s correct, simply mix some in a spray bottle and while you make your inspections simply spray the leaves. If you find a couple of bugs you may remove them but here is another tip. They may have laid eggs on the leaf so a lot of rosarians I know just go ahead and remove the leaf.

Being a naturalist I always endeavor to use the natural enemies of the pests. Lady bugs work well, although if your plants are next to bright lights they’re apt to gravitate to them and you may lose them. Spiders work great and certain types of wasps. Again, it’s good to check and see what works best in your area so don’t be shy about asking a local gardener.

So now you’ve done your research and you’ve discovered what roses grow well in your zone. Also you know about how much sunlight they will need so it will make it easier for you to determine that spot where you roses will gather sufficient sunlight while highlighting your home. Select the species of rose you want, select your favorite colors, those that compliment your home and draw a planting scheme to place the colors according to your liking.

Now that we have our roses and have selected a spot for them, it’s time to plant them. Depending on the type of rose you settled on your planting directions will vary. There are bare root roses, potted roses and roses that come in boxes that you plant right along with the rose. These should come with planting directions, we’ll recommend following the directions. Here is a grower’s tip: if you choose the potted rose you will have greater flexibility on where to plant and since they are already started they require less labor. As far as roses that are planted in boxes, we find that the box inhibits the growth of the roots and it’s better to at least remove the bottom of the box.

After your roses are planted you are in the maintenance phase and that requires watering, making sure the soil is properly fertilized and guarding against pests. A major part of rose bush care and maintenance is pruning. When your prune remove any debris and dead leaves or stems, check and get any that may look diseased.