Planting Roses

I am an organic rose gardener and over the years have come up with some hints folks have asked me to share about how I plant my roses. Do visit my main rose page and my home page!

Preliminaries

Roses are purchased potted or bare root. I prefer bare root roses - these are dormant and should be planted in the late winter or early-mid spring (check your local rose society or agricultural extension office for specific recommendations). Potted roses are grown in a greenhouse and should be planted after all danger of frost. They should be "hardened" before being planted by being brought in during cold periods and being acclimated to being outdoors.

It is strongly advisable to plant roses in a raised bed, with good drainage and with plenty of organic matter. You can see how I built a bed as a reference, and also look at an earlier bed I built. You will want to design the bed, perhaps on graph paper. Here in zone 7B, roses are typically planted 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart; this will, of course, vary with the kind of rose and its expected size, and is for bush roses, not climbers.

Get the best quality roses that you can. I know folks have had success buying roses at discount stores, perhaps for $5-7 each, but I personally prefer buying roses from reputed dealers, typically for $11-15 apiece.

What You'll Want to Have On Hand

• Your roses. If they are bare root, soak them 24-48 hours. Some people like to put in a little bit of bleach to kill any unwanted bacteria, but I simply soak my roses in a big bucket into which I've added vitamin B-1 (I use Alaska brand "Start Up", a natural fertilizer derived from molasses yeast), which helps reduce transplant shock, and a little bit of Nitron A-35 enzyme catalyst, which helps root development, reduces transplant shock, and enhances the soil the roses will be planted in.
• Mycorrhizae Fungi. This is optional, but is a great thing to sprinkle on the roots before planting. The fungi live as beneficial parasites on the roots and allow the plant to become much more efficient at absorbing water and nutrients. I use an endomycorrhizal inoculant that I get from Gardens Alive!.
• Lime and rock phosphate. You will want to have a cup of each per bush you are planting. Roses like the soil to be just slightly acidic (around pH 5.5-6.5), and in most of the U.S., anyway (some western states will have soil that is too alkaline - there one would use sulfur to acidify if the pH is above 6.5 instead of lime), lime will neutralize a soil with pH below 5.5. Rock phosphate is great for root development. Some like to also add a cup of gypsum to break up clay soil, but if you are planting in a prepared bed, the gypsum should not be necessary.
• Earthworm castings. This is probably the best soil amendment there is; it not only adds excellent organic matter to the soil, but it builds the structure of the soil and helps retain water. If you are not working in a prepared bed, you will need additional organic amendments, such as horse manure, compost, or well-aged cow manure.
• A shovel and any other digging implements.
• Newspaper to use as a weed barrier.
• Mulch. I use pine bark, but you can use almost any reasonable organic alternative, such as hardwood bark, cypress bark, cedar, pine straw, or cocoa shell (which can be expensive; if you live near a chocolate factory, see if they give the shell, a waste product for them, away. Beware that chocolate may be poisonous to dogs, so if you have dogs or visitors, you probably don't want to use cocoa shell. I wish I could find an inexpensive source - it decomposes quickly, but when wet it gives off a lovely chocolate fragrance!). Some also use stone, but in particularly hot and sunny weather, light colored stone can radiate heat back up to the plant. The choice is largely dictated by your aesthetics.

  Why mulch? It keeps weeds down (by smothering and keeping away sunlight, which can encourage germination), especially with newspaper below it. It helps the soil, and hence the rose roots, moderate temperature and avoid quick changes. Mulch keeps water from evaporating, especially with a drip system that delivers water below the mulch, right to the roots. Over time, (non-stone) mulch decomposes and enriches the soil - you should plan to replenish the mulch every spring. Finally, it gives a finished look to the bed. Try to put down a layer of mulch about 3-4" thick.

• Drip irrigation drippers. If you are using drip irrigation (and I highly recommend that you consider it), have available the drippers that you can put in place. You can connect it to the drip system later. I recommend 1/4" in-line drippers; I use Drip-In company's that has integrated drippers every foot and which discharges at half a gallon per hour (at 15 psi). An excellent resource to learn about drip irrigation and order connectors, 1/2" feeder poly tube, etc. is The Drip Store.
• A watering can. You can water in your newly planted rose with a hose, but I prefer a watering can so you can easily mix in additives (as I describe next) and so you can more easily control the flow. I mix in vitamin B-1 and enzyme A-35, just as I do in the bare root soaking solution. If you are planting potted roses with leaves, you can also add a bit of kelp to get some foliar fertilization; in this case, you'll water to wet the leaves.

Planting

1. You will want to start off digging a hole that will accomodate the spread-out roots (typically a foot deep by 2 feet in diameter), or the potted rose sans pot. Ideally, you are working in a prepared bed, so can dig the hole to dimension as the surrounding soil is prepared. If not, you will want to make a hole that is even bigger and mix in half of the native soil to organic matter like compost, well-rotted manure, etc.
2. In the case of bare root, replace some of the soil in the center of the hole to make an inverted cone in which the roots will naturally sit. Here in zone 7B, we plant to allow the graft to sit slightly above ground level. Most modern roses in cultivation are grafted onto rootstock and you will easily see a swelling between the roots and the canes - this is the graft. By planting the graft above ground, you are less likely to get suckering and growth of the rootstock instead of the variety you bought. In colder climates, the graft may need to be below ground; check with your local rose society or agricultural extension office. In the case of own-root roses, there won't be a graft. Typically, these will be potted roses with stems and not canes; aim to plant the rose, at least in zone 7B and warmer, mounded slightly above the bed level. Mix in your cup of rock phosphate and cup of lime (and possibly gypsum); I actually like to put in half to three quarters of my mixture here and the rest once the plant is in place and before I water it.
3. Place the bare root rose on the cone, checking that the graft is at the level appropriate for your climate. If you are going to use mycorrhizae fungi, the fungi needs to be in contact with the roots, and now is the best time to apply it. It is expensive (a dry quart will cost around $12), so I keep it in a plastic container and use an old spoon to dispense it. You don't need a lot; once the bare root rose is standing where you want it (don't forget to measure so it is sitting exactly where you want it to be consonant with your bed plan), sprinkle half or one tablespoon or so of the fungi on the roots.
   If you are using a potted rose (be sure you have kept it moist and watered the pot shortly before), remove the rose from the pot (I just gently turn the pot upside down and carefully catch the soil in my hand, but you can also use a knife to cut the pot apart) and do your best to sprinkle the fungi around the bottom and sides to cling as much of the moist soil -- hopefully some of the fungi will reach roots.
4. Earthworm castings are perhaps the best soil amendment, but they are expensive, typically 50 cents to a dollar per pound. I like to put a shovel or two full here immediately around the roots or transplanted rose; they will also help to keep the fungi in place.
5. Fill the hole with the bedding material or your mixture of organics and native soil. If you haven't used up the lime/rock phosphate/gypsum, sprinkle the rest around the rose bush now.
   Water and gently with gloved hands push down to ensure there are no air holes in the soil. It is good to aim to have a slight basin around the rose.
6. If you are using drip irrigation, now is a good time to install the drippers. I use inline drippers, and use a 6' segment to give me 6 drippers @ 1/2 gallon per hour, or 3 gallons total per hour. I surround the rose about 6" to 12" from the center. I tuck one end slightly closer to the rose and put a stop plug ("goof plug") at that end. I leave the other end open and temporarily put a piece of cellophane tape on the opening to keep soil from entering - when I'm ready to hook the drippers up to my main line, I will remove the tape and add the appropriate attachment part. I use 2 or 3 drip stakes to hold the coil in place.
7. Make life easy and minimize weeds! I like to put newspaper around the rose bush (and ultimately throughout the bed, before mulching) and make sure that the taped end of my dripper is clearly sticking out so I can find it when I will connect it to the other rose bush drippers and water source.
8. Mulch the rose. If you are planting bare root, the rose won't yet have established feeder roots, so is in danger of drying out. You will want to mound mulch to cover at least 2/3 of the cane height - and ensure the mulch stays moist. (You can unmound the rose at the later of the last freeze date -- April 15 here -- and a month or so after planting when feeder roots have probably developed.) For potted roses (planted after chances of freeze), just mulch around the rose.
9. Water again. That's it!

Photography April 30, 2000 courtesy of Alex Semilof

Created: May 7, 2000

Last updated: May 17, 2004