by Glenn Cutforth
Bare root roses are not very pretty when they arrive at your door. They're dormant stock and brown roots, but since there's no chance of transplant shock, they're a great choice for beginning your rose garden. They're grown in fields, dug out in the fall, put into cold storage, then shipped to you. You can then plant them in early spring in virtually any part of the country.
One advantage of choosing bare root roses is the selection. You have a much wider range of choices then in a standard nursery. Depending on where you live, you can plant as early as February, which allows the root system to become well established earlier. You usually get better first year growth, as well as better quality roses.
When your bare root roses arrive, their very survival depends on you doing a few things. First, plant them as soon as possible, or store them in moist soil. You definitely don't want them to dry out! The heeling in process, as it's called, is just laying the roses on their sides, and gently heaping loose soil over the roots. Be sure to keep the soil moist until you plant them. Before that however, you'll want to inspect the roses immediately. Any damaged roots or canes should be snipped off with clean, sharp pruning shears. You don't want disease or rot spreading, specifically root and crown galls, so act quickly.
Additionally, you should soak the roots overnight in either willow water, or add a little rooting activator to the bucket of water. This contains a synthetic Vitamin B1. This will aid in dehydrating the roots. Save the water for later planting use. Next prepare the hole for planting. It should be one and a half times as deep and one and a half times as wide as the root system is long. You'll want to support the rose's root crown by mounding some soil around the hole.
If you've properly prepared your soil, enhancing it isn't necessary. If your soil lacks nutrients, add a little bone meal or ground phosphate rock to the hole bottom. You can try adding a touch of kelp powder into the hole too for added health. Plant according to your hardiness zone. In all cases you'll want to spread the roots down, and over the top of the mounded soil, into the holes bottom. Equally distribute the roots around the mound. Never wrap roots around the rose. Remember, placing them properly will ensure good growth.
There are five types of bare root roses available in the United States. These include the Hybrid Tea-large flowers, about 30-50 petals per stem, one bloom per stem; Grandiflora have large blooms in clusters on the stem; The Floribunda have continually blooming, compact clusters of blooms on each stem; The Climbers include the types above except they climb and spread; and finally there are shrub type roses, which grow to be 5 to 15 feet tall and wide. They're self-cleaning so you don't need to deadhead them. David Austin's unique group of hybridized roses (typically called English Roses) belong to this class.
Adding bare root roses to your landscape has, not only the outlined benefits, but they add interest to your garden with their many types and colours. Bring some into your life, and you won't ever want them to stay forever -- and they almost do.
About the Author
Glenn Cutforth is a writer, graphic designer and publisher of quality eBooks at Maxx Publishing http://www.MaxxPublishing.com. If you're interested in getting started with your own Garden, visit his website Lawn and Garden Magic at http://www.LawnandGardenMagic.com, where you'll find a wealth of information, tips and resources.
