Roses like to grow in clay or a fertile clay loam which has a slightly acid or neutral (7.0) pH. You can check this by spiking a hand-held pH meter into the soil. They will tolerate sandy soils but do not like to grow in chalk.
They will also need at least 5 hours of direct sunlight per day (no rose can grow - and flower - in deep shade.) They also do not like to grow where other roses have grown before them; this is because the soil can harbour dormant fungal spores/pest eggs which can go on to infect a susceptible rose. Your rose will either be in a pot before planting or arrive as a bare root (dormant) plant in winter. I say 'dormant' because, during the growing season, roots respire just like we do: they take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. But in the dead of winter - with soil temperatures below 7 degrees Centigrade - the roots do not breathe. This is why, should your bare root rose arrive in freezing temperatures, it will not harm the rose to leave it in its plastic wrapper for a week. If the outside temperatures do not rise by then, I suggest you remove the rose from its wrapper and plant it temporarily in a large pot of soil, having moistened its roots beforehand. If you have ordered a large consignment of roses, then I suggest you dig a shallow trench and temporarily plant them in there. The nursery should have supplied a pre-pruned rose and this basically means that there won't be too much top growth for the presently small root system to supply with nutrients. The ratio of roots:shoots should be approximately equal. Also, all buds will be low on the plant so that it doesn't have a long, bare, stem with no leafy growth on it. |
When it comes to planting your rose (not in frosty conditions or in water-logged soil) you will first have to choose a location for it and dig a hole. The hole needs to be slightly deeper, and wider, than the dimensions of the pot. But hole-digging is not always straightforward! Sometimes it happens that stones/tree roots (in the case of a rambler going up the south (sunny) side of a tree)
means that your hole seems too shallow. This is okay. It is not necessary to plunge rose roots vertically into the soil; they can run horizontally at planting. You should have two piles of soil by the side of your hole - one will be the fertile top soil (just under turf if any) and the other will be the less fertile subsoil (to be discarded). Now, assemble all the items you will need for planting at the hole. They can be piled into a wheelbarrow. You will need: the rose (pre-watered and pre-pruned); a bag of John Innes no. 3 soil-based compost; a handful of bonemeal (high in Phosphorus for root development); a bamboo stick (to ensure the rose is not too deep/shallow in the soil); a border spade, a watering can full of water. Replace the excavated top soil, mixed with bonemeal, into the bottom of the hole. It is important that the root/shoot junction of your rose is buried around 5cm deep, as many roses are grafted on to a rootstock (from a vigorous rose such as a dog rose) and you are trying to suppress the production of non-ornamental suckers from the base of the plant. Water your newly-planted rose and - during a period of no decent rainfall - keep on watering it (twice a week) until there is. The rose's roots need to grow and establish themselves in the soil. |