How to plant a rose and take care of it

When to plant a rose

Roses with an open root system can be planted in the spring, when the soil warms up to 10-12 degrees and the threat of return frosts has passed. In the regions of the middle lane, such conditions usually occur in May or even early June, if the heat has not yet arrived. You can navigate by roses in your or a neighbor's garden - if they have already released leaves, start planting seedlings.

You can do it in the fall too. Planting starts in September and ends 2-3 weeks before the arrival of frost. However, this option has disadvantages: a young plant may not have time to take root in open field and simply won't survive.

Seedlings with a closed root system are sold in pots with soil. Such roses continue to develop, so they do not experience stress during transplantation. They are ready to move to open ground in spring, summer and autumn before frost.

How to choose a rose seedling

Can root cuttings from bouquets. Or buy a ready-made seedling at a garden center or nursery.

Decide on the type of rose

Depending on the appearance and cultivation characteristics, roses are divided into nine main groups, each of which has its own varieties and hybrids.

1. Climbing roses grow shoots up to 5 m long, requiring support, so they are good for vertical gardening - creating flowering arches and pergolas.
2. Shrubs are powerful rose bushes up to 3 m high with abundant flowering.
3. Ground cover roses are shrubs with dense foliage and shoots up to 4 m long, which tightly cover the ground surface.
4. Floribunda - bushes with a height of 30 to 100 cm, which are distinguished by abundant and continuous flowering from mid-summer to late autumn.
5. Park combines old varieties of roses and decorative types wild rose. These are unpretentious lush bushes that bloom earlier than other roses and do not require special care. They can often be seen in city flower beds.
6. Remontant roses - bushes with erect shoots up to 2 m high and large double flowers up to 16 cm in diameter. After the end of the first wave of flowering in June, the buds are re-released in July-August.
7. Hybrid tea roses produce one large flower per shoot and are great for cutting. The height of the bushes is from 60 to 150 cm.
8. Polyanthus roses are distinguished by multiple inflorescences - one can have from 20 to 100 small flowers up to 6 cm in diameter. These are compact dense bushes 70-80 cm high.
9. Miniature roses grow no higher than 40 cm and form a lush green bush with small double flowers.

There are also standard roses - a rose of any of the nine groups is grafted to a long stem of wild rose. Thus, a flowering cloud on a high stem is obtained. The grafted flower will have all the characteristics of the group.

Find out the age of the seedling

It is better to choose roses that are 2-3 years old - at this age they already have a fairly developed root system and, as a rule, there are 2-3 strong shoots. Younger or older seedlings will experience severe stress when transplant and may not take root.

Pay attention to the appearance of the rose

It is not uncommon for growers to coat the stems of bare-rooted seedlings with wax for better storage. In this case, you can gently scrape off the protective layer with your fingernail to look at the condition of the plant. Stems should be green with no dark spots, rot, mold or dry patches. If there are leaves, make sure they are deep green, shiny, free of plaque and signs of disease.

The roots of the seedling should not be dry, rotten and moldy. Buy roses whose root system is packed in moist soil, wrapped in clingfilm or bagged to keep them from drying out.

Seedlings with a closed root system should sit firmly and confidently in a pot. Try gently rocking the plant - if it holds well in the ground, then the rose is well rooted.

How to prepare a place for growing roses

Decide on a landing site

Choose sunny areas protected from strong winds. Make sure the roses don't shade during the day tall plants and buildings. It is also worth considering the features of the species. So, shrabs and parks will grow intensively in breadth, and for climbers in the future it will be necessary to put an arch or other support.

Make a landing hole

It is prepared immediately before planting a rose. The width of the pit should be 40–60 cm. To the length of the roots of the rose (or to the height of the pot - for seedlings with a closed root system) add 15 cm - this will be the depth of the pit. Put a 10–15 cm layer of compost or rotted manure on the bottom and mix it with 1–2 tablespoons of wood ash.

By the way, roses love fertile soil with a weak or neutral level of acidity - pH 5.5-6.5, so it is convenient to buy a ready-made substrate in advance with such indicators in order to use it for further landing. Or use the land from your siteif you are sure of its quality.

How to prepare a seedling for planting

If the stems are covered with protective wax, you can gently scrape it off with a toothpick. Some gardeners prefer not to do this so as not to damage dormant buds. In the future, the wax will come off the plant on its own.

Inspect the shoots: dry or black, cut with a sharp pruner to a healthy tissue.

Good shoots are enough to cut by 0.5–1 cm. In any case, work so that about 0.5 cm of the stem remains above the nearest bud.

Also remove dried, rotten or moldy roots, and cut healthy ones by 1–2 cm.

After that, dip the roots of the plant in the biofungicide solution to prevent fungal diseases. To do this, you can use Fitosporin, which is diluted in water according to the instructions. Leave the seedling to soak for 2-3 hours and make sure that the root neck is above the surface of the water.

How to plant a rose

For seedlings with an open and closed root system, the steps will be slightly different.

Open root system

In the middle of the prepared planting hole, pour a small mound of fertile soil 5–10 cm high. Pour 10 liters of water into it. Until it is absorbed, put the seedling in the hole, gently straighten the roots. Top with fertile soil so that the root neck is 5–7 cm deeper than the surface of the earth. Wait until the liquid is completely gone and, if necessary, top up the soil.

With a closed root system

Carefully remove the seedling from the pot so as not to damage the roots. To do this, you can cut the container with scissors. Place the rose together with the earthy clod in the hole. Make sure that the root neck is 5-7 cm below the ground - excess soil from bottom holes can be removed or, conversely, the missing layer can be added. Fill all voids with fertile soil, compact the surface slightly. After that, water the soil around the plant with 10 liters of water.

How to care for a rose

Water the plant

Roses do not like excess moisture. Watering they are needed when the soil near them dries out 3–4 cm deep, and this should be done early in the morning or at sunset to avoid burning the leaves. The water should not be icy, and the pressure in the hose should not be too strong so as not to wash away the soil at the roots. One adult bush needs about 10 liters of liquid, and 5 liters will be enough for young roses. Remember to gently loosen the soil around the plant after each watering to provide oxygen to the root system.

feed the rose

In the spring, as soon as the snow melts, sprinkle 10–15 g of ammonium nitrate around each bush and gently loosen the soil with a chopper, being careful not to damage the roots. After that, you need to spend four more top dressing nutrient solutions throughout the season. Remember that you need to water the plants with fertilizers under the root on wet soil, trying not to get on the leaves so as not to burn them. One bush requires no more than 4 liters of solution.

• In May, when the roses are getting ready to bloom, feed them with superphosphate and potassium sulfate. In 10 liters of water, you need to dilute 10 g of each of the products.
• In June with the beginning of flowering, top dressing should be repeated with the same solution as the previous time.
• After 3-4 weeks, another fertilizer will be needed. Dissolve 10 g of nitrophoska, 500 g of chicken manure and 100 g of wood ash in 10 liters of water.
• In autumn, after flowering, carry out the final dressing. For 10 liters of water, take 16 g of potassium monophosphate and 15 g of superphosphate.

prune the bush

Try to regularly remove wilted leaves with sharp secateurs or scissors. flowersso that the plant does not waste energy on seed maturation. You also need to get rid of dried, blackened or rotten shoots to prevent the spread of diseases. It is especially important to carry out such sanitary pruning in early spring, before the buds have blossomed - fungi and bacteria can quickly attack a rose that has weakened over the winter.

The shoots are cut to healthy tissue - the stem on the cut should be light without spots and darkening. Above the kidney you need to retreat about 0.5 cm. Do not forget to sharpen the tool regularly, as well as disinfect it after cutting each bush, so as not to spread possible infections from diseased roses to healthy ones.

Cover your rose for the winter

Park roses survive the cold well without special protection, but the rest of the species need to be covered in the fall, when the air temperature during the week will be from -1 to -5 degrees. Before the procedure, remove all leaves from the plants and cut off dry inflorescences. Remove the shoots of climbing roses from the supports, lay them on the ground, cover them with spruce branches. Install metal or plastic arcs on top, lay non-woven material on them and place stones or stones around the edges bricksso that the shelter is not blown away by the wind.

Small bushes can be protected in the same way, only their stems are not laid on the ground. Volumetric roses with erect stems should be wrapped from top to bottom with non-woven material in 1-2 layers and secured with tape or rope.

In the spring, as soon as a stable positive temperature is established, the shelter is gradually removed. First, it is opened from the north side of the bush so that the rose begins to get used to the cool air and does not received burns from the bright sun, and after 1-2 weeks you can remove the material completely in the absence of strong frost.

How to deal with diseases and pests of roses

Most often, the rose is attacked by aphids, spider mites and leafhoppers.

In the list of the most common diseases - mealy dew, rust and black spot.

If the plants already have signs of disease or the presence of insects is noticeable, they should be treated twice with special agents with an interval of 10-12 days.

To combat most pests, Aktara, Iskra, Aktellik or BI‑58 preparations are suitable. However, all of them are detrimental to bees and other pollinating insects, so during the flowering period it is better to use safe biological agents - Biotlin, Herold, Kleschevit or green soap.

To combat diseases, Topaz, Skor, or Fundazol are used, and during the flowering period, Fitosporin, Trichodermin, or Baktofit biologics are used. Also, for prevention in early spring, while the buds on the stems are sleeping, and in the fall, before shelter, roses can be treated with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

Solutions of drugs are prepared according to the instructions on the package. And about the rules of spraying and precautions when working with chemicals can be found in our material about processing garden from diseases and pests.