Planting Shrub Roses
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Hardy Shrub Roses
Planting Shrub Roses


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What your rose needs:

            At least 6 hours of direct sunlight, more if you can.
            Well drained soil or amended soil to provide drainage
            Plenty of water

 

Water

Don't forget your roses between the time you receive them and the time you plant them! Make sure they don't dry out. Don't forget to water them in well after they are planted. Newly planted roses are very vulnerable to heat and dry weather. Do not let them dry out.

Just after planting, treat your new rose as if it were still in the pot. It takes time for new roots to grow into the fresh soil of its new home. BalsamPath roses, when growing in their pots, are watered every day. After planting, water your new rose thoroughly every day for a couple of weeks, then cut back your watering to once every 3 to 4 days for a couple of weeks, and then water enough to equal 1 inch of rain, once a week.

Planting

1. Prepare the site by removing all other vegetation—either with a rototiller or by cutting out the top couple of inches of vegetation and soil. Improve the planting site with organic matter. Compost is one of the best sources of organic matter and it is readily available from your local garden center, your neighborhood leaf-composting center, or you can make it yourself. Composted manure is one of the best soil amendments; however, make sure it is well-aged so it doesn't burn the roots. Roses are heavy feeders, so be generous with compost.
   
   
2. Dig the hole for your rose at least 1 foot wider either side of, and 1 foot deeper than the size of the pot holding your rose. Use some well-cured compost or very good black soil and mound up the center of the hole to be a base for your rose. Keep the topsoil from this hole and discard the rest.
   
   
3. Mix the topsoil that you took out of the hole with well-cured compost or very good black soil (50:50 ratio) and one-half cup of bone meal (0-20-0), or composted manure can be used as well. Blend this mix well.
   
   
4. With a small, sharp blade, make 3 or 4 slits, about half an inch deep, in the root ball. This will encourage the roots to grow outward into its new soil, instead of staying confined within its root ball.  
   
   
5. Place the plant in the hole to a depth that will keep the rootball just below the soil line after the hole is filled in.
   
   
6. Fill one-third of the hole with the soil mix, and lightly firm the soil around the plant. Then fill up another third of the hole, firm the soil, and fill the rest of the hole with the remaining soil and gently press down. Leave a slight "dish" around the plant to help hold water.
   
   
7. Slowly pour about two or three gallons of water over and around the base of the plant or until it pools on top of the soil. If the water runs away from the plant and is not soaking in, make a little wall of soil around the edge of your planting hole. This will keep the water around the plant. The most important thing you can give your new rose is water. Water settles the soil around the root system, and helps the roots transport nutrients to the plant.
   
   
8. Place mulch around the base of the plant about 2 to 3 inches thick. Some good types of mulch are wood chips/bark, or compost.  Mulch reduces moisture loss, adds organic matter, suppresses weed growth and keeps the feeder roots of your roses cool. Try to keep the wood chip mulch just away from the rose stems for the first year, to help keep air close to the roots of the rose.
   
   
   

Spacing

If the mature width of your plant is 4 feet, then plant each plant 4 feet apart. That will give each plant at least 2-feet on either side of the plant's center for growth. That's enough room for each plant to grow to mature size. If you want a dense hedge, space the plants closer. If you want to see individual plant shapes, space the plants further apart.

Flowers

Your rose will flower this year and for years to come. All the roses will flower abundantly in the spring. Then, some will stop blooming while others continue, more or less, for the rest of the season. After the flower is spent, it will try to form a "hip", the rose's seed pod. The rose will wait to throw off a new flowering stem until after the hip is formed. If you cut off, or "deadhead" the spent flowers, the rose will begin to form a new flowering stem right away. That way you get more roses to enjoy. If you want to collect the hips for tea or for the seeds, wait to deadhead until the hips are mature.