By Thomas Straub
Quite a few people want to know if roses are difficult to grow. The answer is definitely not. Actually, roses are simple to grow and need only a little more care than any other perennial plant.
Here is a look at the planting, care and maintenance of roses.
Planting Roses
Preparing the soil for roses is vitally important since they use a lot of nutrients. An excellent idea would be to use 100% organic compost, not just for the nutrients provided in the compost, but also because the compost will drain well and still keep lots of moisture. Rose need plenty of water, as well as a well-drained planting bed.
Caring for Your Roses
Since Roses blossom during the entire growing season, they are big users of nutrients and will need regular fertilizing.
In the spring when the leaves begin to bud out, feed your roses, and again in late summer or early fall, depending on what area of the country you live in.
How to Deal With Diseases That Effect Roses
Roses are vulnerable to mildew, fungi and insect infestation. Most of these diseases can be prevented from happening. Even better, all of them can be controlled with regular applications of fungicides and insecticides.
Several kinds of beneficial insects can be placed into your garden to help you control insect infestations, without using chemicals.
Getting Your Roses Ready for Winter
In warm climates, not much needs to be done to prepare your roses for winter, beyond adding a good layer of mulch. In colder climates that have temperatures sink below 25 degrees F, you will want to protect your roses with additional mulch.
Building cages to surround your roses and then filling them with mulch after the initial freeze will make sure that your roses survive throughout the winter. Then, you can see your beautiful roses bloom again in the spring!
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Tom Straub is a successful author, and webmaster of the Best Gardening Tips web site, where you can read more on Flower Gardening and more than a dozen other gardening topics.
A rose is a perennial flowering shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp thorns. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance