There is nothing more beautiful that roses in the garden. With a little effort, you can enjoy stunning blooms for many years to come!
Since I’m not a professional gardener, I like to choose plants that are not too complicated to maintain. One thing that I like to take care of in our little garden area is our roses.
My grandpa was my inspiration for gardening, and he had gorgeous roses in his garden. I remember thinking I had NO idea how to even starting taking care of them. I asked him to write down some tips for me, and then I started doing research on my own too.
Table of Contents
Caring for Roses
Here are some simple tips to care for your roses. I hope you learn to enjoy your roses as much as I do!
1. Plant in Full Sun
It’s no secret that roses love the sun! Roses need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day, so you need to plant them in the right spot. However, if you live in a really hot area, you can plant your roses in an area with some shade in the afternoon.
2. Plant in Nutrient-rich, Well-Drained Soil
The soil in our garden isn’t good for growing most plants, but fortunately roses are fairly adaptable. As long as the soil is well-drained and rich in nutrients, they will grow well. The best soils will have a medium to heavy loam, meaning a mix of sand, silt and clay, about 12 inches deep.
If you’re not confident in the soil in your garden, ask your friends or neighbors. You can always go ahead and buy high-quality gardening soil from your local nursery if needed.
3. Water Regularly
Roses need about an inch of water every week. Newly planted roses should be watered daily, while established roses should be watered every 2 to 3 days. During hot periods, watch for signs of wilting and water accordingly.
How to Water Roses: It’s best to water roses in the evenings or early mornings. Add water directly at the roots, taking care to avoid the leaves. Try to water the whole root, as just watering the soil does’t benefit the roses.
4. Prune From Time to Time
Before talking to my grandpa, I didn’t understand why pruning was important. I didn’t realize that cutting back a plant would actually help it to grow. Getting rid of the dead or damaged parts of the bush actually helps to keep it healthy!
Late winter or early spring is the best time to do major pruning. Remember there are lots of thorns on a rose bush, so be sure to wear gardening gloves. Using sharp pruning shears, make the first cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch above an outward-facing leaf bud. This appears as a small bump on the stem where a leaf would appear.
Roses can be cut back significantly, as long as you don’t more than ONE THIRD to HALF of the overall bush. You want to strive to create a vase-like shape of the bush (more details on pruning).
5. Deadhead Old Flowers
Deadheading is the process of removing old, faded flowers. It can be done as needed throughout the season. In fact, the sooner you do it, the sooner new blooms will appear!
Simply cut the stem above the first leaf containing 5 leaflets, which is below the flower:
6. Prepare a Rose Bush for Winter
If you live in an area with cold winters, you’ll have to prepare them for winter. Stop fertilizing 6 weeks before the first frost and leave Also, don’t prune the faded flowers (doing so encourages new growth).
Once most of the leaves have fallen off the stems, cover the base of your rose bush with 10-12 inches of mulch or compost. You can also wrap the bushes in burlap if you live in a really cold climate.
You May Also Like:
- 10 Ways to Plant a Garden Even When You Don’t Have Space
- Flowers That Grow in Full Shade
- Herbs That Are Easy to Grow
Roses are my favorite flower!! My husband planted 4 knock-out rose bushes that are beautiful almost all year round.They seem to be the only green living thing I can’t kill which is great for me.We do prune ours every spring and they keep coming back bigger and better.
I hear ya, I kill plants too! I don’t mean too but I think my thumb is more brown than green 🙂
Hello Tara, Rose is my favorite flower. I like to take care of it in the garden area. I love color variation in roses. You have shared great tips. Thank you for sharing your blog.
Thanks so much, Mike!