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What Roses Need
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Five Rose Garden Ideas
Terry Lowery
If you’ve always shied away from growing roses because you
believed their press, it’s time to put away your
misconceptions. Far from being the finicky, pest-ridden
creatures that they’re made out to be, roses are surprisingly
easy to grow and maintain. Roses have five basic needs:
Plenty of sun! With very few exceptions, roses love the sun.
Choose a spot for them that gets at least six full hours of sun
per day, and they’ll reward you with beautiful, showy blooms.
Lots of Water! Roses are thirsty little critters, too. Plan on
giving your rose garden a good daily drenching to supplement
rain – and add a second if rain is scarce.
Control Pest-y Critters! Roses ARE prone to attract pesky bugs
like Japanese beetles and aphids. There are all sorts of
natural treatments if you object to a weekly-or-so spraying
with a pesticide designed for roses. On the flip side – the
only time that I saw major problems with infestations were my
grandmother’s prize blue-blood strains. Hybrids and ramblers
seem not to be bothered much at all.
Feed them! You’ll get more, fuller and more colorful blooms if
you feed your roses once a month with a good, balanced
fertilizer.
Pick your roses! Seriously – roses love to be pruned and
groomed. The more you pick your roses, the more you’ll get.
So – have you got a spot in your yard that gets at least six
hours of sun a day, is close enough to the garden hose that
watering is easy, and is easily accessible by paths and
walkways? In that case – you have a great spot for a rose
garden.
A few ideas for rose garden designs you might not have
considered are:
A Rose Fence Garden
Climbing and rambling roses are ambitious climbers. You can
completely cover a chain link fence with a plant every 2-3
feet. Start with bare-stemmed root stock, and train new growth
along the chain links and support frames. Within 3-4 years,
you’ll have a full wall of blossoming roses.
A Corner Rose Garden
Got a bare, sunny corner in your yard? It’s the perfect spot
for a climbing rose garden. Start with a few large boulders or
rocks, plant 3-5 ground-cover or rambling roses, and stay out
of the way. Within a few years, you’ll find you’re spending
more time containing them than trying to make them grow.
A Centerpiece Rose Garden for Your Front Entrance
My mother gets credit for this one. She simply planted a rose
bush at the base of her driveway lamp, and trained a few stalks
to grow up along the lamp post. The result – stunning! Red roses
twine around the pole, and over the top of the lamp and spill
around the ground at its base.
A Patio Rose Garden
Miniature hybrids and tea roses are quite happy growing in
terracotta pots and other containers. If you have a sunny
patio, try filling a large strawberry jar with a couple of tea
rose bushes, and plant the pockets with trailing alyssum and
purple lobelia.
A Mixed-Up Rose Garden
Roses love to share – especially with garlic and onion plants.
The tall, spiky foliage of onion, garlic and chive sets
camouflage leggy rose stalks. Add a border of low-growing
ground cover, and let the roses provide shade for shrinking
violets and impatiens. Added bonus: garlic and onions keep away
many rose pests.
About The Author: This article courtesy of
http://www.flowers-usa.org
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