How To Care For Roses

Roses, unjustly, have a reputation for being high maintenance. That's true only if you're going for perfect, show-quality flowers. For the rest of us, it's all about a good pruning in spring, watering, feeding, and few other basic maintenance tasks.

Watering

Give roses an inch of water per week. Water the soil directly rather than the plant, since water on the leaves can encourage fungal disease.

Pruning

Prune roses in the late winter/early spring just as they start to show signs of growth, that is, send out tiny reddish buds that will turn into stems and leaves. (See How to Prune Roses: for details on how to prune different roses.)

Feeding

Different gardeners have different ways to feed their roses. An easy, no-brainer way is to use a granular slow-release fertilizer made specifically for roses (some have a pesticide built into the formula to kill insects). Just sprinkle a capful or two into the soil in spring and once or a few times more during the growing season. (Follow package directions.)

For a more intensive fertilizing, one that encourages lush growth and lots of blooms, work in a slow-release rose fertilizer in early spring. Then fertilize with a liquid rose fertilizer every two to four weeks from there on until frost.

If you'd like to feed your roses organically, spread an inch-thick layer of compost reaching as far as the branches do each spring. Also, if desired, sprinkle one-fourth cup of epsom salts around the base of the rose. Follow up monthly with a fish emulsion fertilizer.

Deadheading

Once a rose starts to fade and wither, trim it off. This will encourage more flowering on the plant overall.

With clusters of roses, you may need to snip off just one flower or two out of the cluster. Otherwise, when deadheading a rose or even when cutting it to bring indoors, make the cut far enough down the stem to encourage healthy regrowth.

To cut correctly, make the cut right above the first little leaflet along the stem that 1) has five (rather than three) leaves on it and 2) grows away from, rather than toward, the center of the bush. This assures that the branch grows outward, encouraging a nicely shaped shrub.

Make the cut at a 45-degree angle that slopes toward the center of the bush. This type of cut will heal better than other cuts and prevents disease.

Winterizing Roses

How much winter protection you need to give your roses depends on your climate and the particular rose. It also varies depending on the severity of each winter. But in general, do the following, depending on which zone you live in:

Zones 5 and colder. In late fall, before the first snowfall, mound all roses with soil or compost to a height of 10 inches to 1 foot. In Zones 4 and 5, the hardiest roses, such as rugosas, Morden, Canadian Explorer, and most David Austins, will survive normal winters without additional protection. But hybrid teas and other borderline-hardy roses need their top protected as well by wrapping them in burlap. In Zones 3, all roses need their tops protected.

Remove the top protection in spring when daytime temperatures regularly are in the 50s, usually in March or so. Gently hose or push away the mounded soil two or three weeks later.

Zones 6 to 8. In late fall, after the ground freezes, mound roses with 4 to 8 inches of soil, compost, or mulch. Remove in late February or early March.

Zones 9 and warmer. No mounding or mulch is needed except for the least cold-hardy roses, such as hybrid teas, during the coldest winters. Even then, they’ll need only 3 to 4 inches of mulch around their bases.

Note: Some gardeners cut back their roses to prepare them for winter. But roses are more likely to survive if the canes are intact. Cut back only if you’re concerned about severe wind damage; otherwise tie in bundles. Prune roses in late winter or early spring to assure they grow strong and correctly and bloom their best later in the season.