HOW TO GROW ROSES
Originating from China, the earliest modern rose was the tea rose. With centuries of breeding, modern roses today flower continuously from spring to autumn. There are single, semi-double and double flowered forms in every colour imaginable, many with fragrance beyond belief.
Selection
Roses are deciduous shrubs.
Hybrid Tea roses grow from 1 to 2 metres in height with large double flowers on single stems. Some are fragrant.
Floribunda roses grow 1 to 1.5 metres in height with many clusters of flowers on one stem.
Climbers or pillar roses grow 2 metres plus in height. Some have hybrid tea type flowers others floribunda clusters.
Old Fashioned roses are often called species roses. Some grow to 4 metres in height, some are fragrant and have colourful hips in winter.
English roses (modern shrub) are bred to retain the best old fashioned rose traits of fragrance and flower form, but benefit from modern breeding being disease resistant and continuous flowering. They grow to a height of 1 to 2 metres.
David Austin roses are popular English roses.
Miniature roses grow from a height of 15 to 50cm, are compact bushes, do not require pruning and are great in patio pots and tubs.
Patio roses are suitable for pots and smaller gardens.
When to Plant
The best time to plant is in winter. If planting in spring or summer, keep well watered.
Where to Plant
Plant in a sunny, open position. Roses like a rich well drained soil. Prepare the soil before planting by digging in plenty of compost and a dressing of Tui Rose food. Raise beds in clay soil to improve drainage.
How to Plant
Before planting cut away any damaged branches.
Aim for 3 to 4 main leaders, use sharp secateurs .
Cut the main leaders to within 4 to 5 buds from the base of the plant.
Prepare the site by digging in compost (2/3 soil to 1/3 compost). The hole should be 1/3 bigger than the root area of the rose. Plant with a good margin between the graft and top of the soil to allow for applying compost in the future.
Tramp the soil down firmly after planting and water in. Fertilser should only be applied to the surface of the soil after planting to avoid burning the rose.
Pruning
What's you'll need
• Loppers
• Secateurs
• Pruning Saw
• Leather rose pruning gloves
Winter Pruning
Always use sharp and clean tools.
Prune roses when they are dormant in winter.
We prune to thin the centre of a rose out and make it more open. This encourages good air flow and light, making roses are less susceptible to disease.
Take out all dead, diseased and damaged stems to encourage new growth in spring.
Remove the occasional 'old' wood canes to encourage new growth. New canes are lovely and green, old canes are silvery grey with big thorns.
Remove weak canes (anything thinner than a pencil).
The remaining thicker stong healthy stems should be cut back by approx 1/3. If the rose has a vigorous growth habit, but back by 2/3.
Make the pruning cut 15mm above an outward facing bud (a 'bump' on the stem). Outward buds face out toward the garden, inward face in to the centre of the rose. Cut on 45 degree angle slanting backwards. An angled cut ensures that rain water runs off the cut and runs away from the bud.
Summer Pruning
Remove spent flower heads in summer for continuous flowering. After an early summer prune, it willt ake 5-6 weeks for your rose to re-flower. The sooner you deadhead a spent rose, the faster you will get a second flush and it also means that the rose does not waste energy growing hips.
If a branch is totally over, prune it back at a thick part of the stem.
Prune on an angle, at a thick section of stem, just above a leaf node that faces out. Outward facing nodes face out, away from the middle of the bush.
Cutting at the thick end encourages new thick stems and bigger clusters of blooms.
If you want to keep some blooms/buds, pick and choose the old blooms to snip.
If a bush is totally spent it needs a full summer prune to encourage a second flush.
Prune back to the thick parts of the stem. You don't want to encourage spindly growth.
Angle your secateurs so that you encourage outward facing buds to grow.
Prune at the thick, sturdy part of the stem, at an outward facing node.
Make the pruning cut 15mm above the outward facing bud (a 'bump' on the stem). Outward buds face out toward the garden, inward face in to the centre of the rose. Cut on 45 degree angle slanting backwards. An angled cut ensures that rain water runs off the cut and runs away from the bud.
Watering
Roses require regular watering throughout summer. It's almost impossible to overwater them. Deep watering is more effective than light sprinklings. A hose trickling steadily at the bae of the plant once every 10days provides a deep watering. Avoid wetting the foliage as this encourages the spread of fungus diseases. Good watering encourages healthy strong new growth.
Mulching
Mulch roses in early spring and again in mid summer with a compost or mulch. Mulching keeps the roots cool and moist.
Feeding
Roses require regular feeding. Rose foods with high potash levels such as Tui Rose Food or Daltons Rose and Flower Controlled Release Fertiliser, will maximise flowering and as roses love sheep manure, combine theset wo most important elements. Sheep manure also encourages earthworms and improves soil texture.
Feed roses in early spring when new growth appears and again in mid summer.
Water in well. If growing roses in containers they need to be regularly watered and fed. Use a slow release fertiliser.
Pests and Diseases
For all of their beauty, roses do require regular spraying and maintenance to keep them pest and disease free. Good watering, feeding, pruning and air circulation will help to keep roses healthy.
In Winter spray after pruning with Freeflo Copper and Enspray99 oil. Spray first with copper and then a week later spray with the Enspray99.
During Spring and Summer, follow two regimes to avoid any build-up of spray resistance.
Aphids are small sucking insects that appear on new growth. Hose off, squash with fingers or spray with Mavrik or Groventive.
Rose scale are sucking insects that look like fine white flakes stuck to the stem. Control with Enspray99 Oil mixed with an Mavrik or Groventive.
Mites are minute sucking insects found on the underside of leaves causing distortion, speckling and silvering of leaves. Spray with Mavrik, Groventive or Enspray99
Black spot appears as dark brown black spots in yellow rings on the leaf, usually in summer. Avoid wetting the foliage when watering. FreeFlo Copper can be sprayed as a protectant.
Powdery mildew appears as a white floury powder on the leaf surface. Improve air circulation around the plant. Spray with Yates Fungus Fighter
Rust appears as orange spots on the underside of the leaf and turn black. Spray with Fungus nFighter or FreeFlo Copper.
Downy mildew is a disease sometimes confused with black spot as it appears the same. Downy mildew tends to attack roses in early spring while black spot attacks in late spring, summer. Spray with Yates Fungus Fighter or FreeFlo Copper.