Getting your new rose bush off to a great start takes a little preparation and thought. Remember the old adage about planting your 50-cent plant in a five-dollar hole? Well, adjusted for inflation, that $40 rose should go in a $400 hole! Invest the time and energy in planting your rose now and you’ll reap the benefits for years to come.
Start by preparing the planting site; it’s all about location, location, location!
• Go for full sun – roses are sun lovers and need a minimum of 5 – 6 hours each day to produce abundant flowers.
• Inadequate sunlight can cause a rosebush to struggle, producing lankier stems, fewer leaves, and flowers, making it more susceptible to pests and disease.
• Morning sun is best, as it helps dry moisture on the leaves early, and is less intense than hot afternoon sun.
• Protect the rose from wind to prevent it from drying out quickly and damaging tender new canes.
• Don’t plant too close to a tree; the tree’s big, greedy roots systems will compete with the rose for water and nutrients.
• Provide adequate space around the plant – while the little bareroot plant you are putting in the ground may not look like much today, given the right environment, it’s likely to grow into a good-sized plant, so provide space accordingly.
• Also, good air circulation around the plant reduces the potential for disease.
Dig a large planting hole about 18 inches in diameter and 20 inches deep.
• Check that your planting hole has adequate drainage; as much as roses love water, they do not like to sit in it.
• If you need to improve drainage, add organic materials like compost, redwood soil conditioner or similar materials.
Once your planting site is ready, time to attend to the little bundle of sticks otherwise known as a bareroot rose.
• After unpacking, inspect the rose and remove all broken roots, weak or damaged stems.
• The plant may have dried out, so to plump up the roots and canes, fill a container deep enough to submerge the entire plant with water, add one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of water, and completely immerse the bareroot rose.
• Let it soak for about 24 hours.
• This process both rehydrates the plant and helps to reduce unwanted microbes that may have been transported with the plant.
Add soil to the planting hole to form a cone (think upside-down ice cream cone).
• Look at the rose and decide how best to orient it – have the “best side” facing the direction where it is most visible and place the plant on top of the cone.
• For grafted plants, set the bottom of the bud union (the rather knobby section of the rose that is the graft point) at about two inches above natural soil grade.
• Spread the roots out over the cone and add soil to completely fill the planting hole.
• Tamp the soil lightly, and then let it settle to its final height naturally.
• Water well to saturate the soil around the plant.
Bareroot roses planted directly in the ground need some added protection while they develop their roots.
• To prevent them from drying out, mound soil, compost, or soil conditioner high up around the base of the plant to keep the bud union moist and protected from drying winds and warm temperatures.
• Keep the rose well-watered as it establishes its root system.
• After about six weeks (when leaves begin to emerge), carefully remove the mulch, stand back, and watch that new rose perform!
By Nanette Londeree, Master Rosarian