By K. Finch
While surveying your property for choosing the best location for your rose garden, be sure the area has full sunlight. Remember, roses love sunshine. Roses need at least 6 hours of sunlight to grow and blossom. When you are taking up rose gardening for the first time, you should consider getting advice from your local gardening center associates, as they would be happy to provide you with free gardening tips.
Rose gardening is not so hard, although it does take some time for planning and preparing your soil beds. Basic gardening tips apply. Be sure to plant your roses in such a way as they have enough room to grow as well as the room you need to care for the plants. Keep in mind that roses do not do well in poor draining soil. Make sure your gardens are free of debris, while only using the best quality fertilizer when preparing your rose beds before planting.
Roses prefer fertile soil, high in organic materials, although they will grow in almost any type of soil. Roses also prefer chemical fertilizers over organic, therefore you should add to the soil a quantity of superphosphate before planting. Do not be shy about asking your local experts for gardening advice, many are more than happy to share their love of roses and remember to choose the fertilizer you use wisely.
As soon as all signs of frost are gone, you may begin preparing your garden for planting. Remember to:
- Clean the area- Clear the area- Prepare the soil- Fertilize the soil
When the weather begins to warm, you can plant your rose gardens and wait for the miracle of nature to occur.
As far as watering your roses, you can do so once weekly, if there is no rain. You will need to water them more frequently as the weather begins to grow hotter, however do so in the mornings. Inspect your rose bushes for disease and insects all during the summer, while keeping the soil in the area clean. Remove any debris from around them as well.
During the fall roses continue to bloom on into September and October, this means you can still enjoy them during this time. During this time, they need very little maintenance care or pruning of dead canes. Between, Thanksgiving and Christmas roses begin to go dormant, take this opportunity to prepare them for the winter.
Hardy rose bushes need little winter protection, while it is not recommendable to prune them until the first new moon of springtime. Layer a good covering of mulch at the base or the plant, to protect them from damage by frost or you can use cones to cover some of your smaller plants.
However, remember to cut the tops out of the cone, to encourage good winter air circulation.
Winter is the well deserved resting period for you and your roses, until the arrival of spring.
Then it is back to your regimen of basic gardening, preparing the soil and maintaining your roses for the wonderful enjoyment of another beautiful rose gardening season.
Check out The Joy of Rose Gardening now at http://www.roseflowergarden.com, to find great articles, advice, tips and much more on rose gardening topics.
