Few flowers are as iconic and breathtaking as the classic rose. With blooms ranging from elegant white to bursts of pink, orange, and red, there is a rose that is perfect for any garden. Regardless of your experience level as a gardener, you can easily fill your garden with beautiful roses if you follow these three tips. If you are looking for more gardening tips or want to learn more about how you can grow any flowers or plants that you want, come into the Burger Farm & Garden Center today.
Improve Your Soil
The soil in your garden has a huge impact on the success of your plants. Roses in particular like neutral soil, thriving in soil with a pH level of 6.5 to 6.8. Your soil’s pH level directly affects the availability of specific nutrients and your plants’ ability to absorb those nutrients. If you want to improve your soil for your roses, follow these three simple steps:
- Get a soil pH testing kit and add phosphorous to your soil. Roses need sufficient phosphorous to bloom and grow efficiently. Phosphorous is found in most fertilizers and is noted as the P in the NPK numbers that you see on the back of most fertilizer packages.
- If checking your soil’s pH level and mending your soil yourself seems like too much work for you, we recommend using a simple 10-10-10 rose fertilizer once a month.
- Once you have added the phosphorous or fertilizer to your soil, cover your topsoil with 2-3 inches of mulch.
Water Efficiently
The amount of water that your roses need will vary depending on the season. As long as your soil has proper drainage, we recommend that you water your roses twice a week. When you water your roses make sure that you water deeply. It is much better to miss a watering and water deeply than it is to lightly water every day.
Always water your roses in the morning or during the day, but never water your roses at night or dusk. Roses are susceptible to mildew that thrives in moist, wet environments. If you water your roses at night, you are not giving the soil a chance to dry out in the sun and you could actively promote mildew, which will kill your plants. You also want to make sure that you water your roses at the base to avoid water accumulation and mildew growth on your leaves.
Make the Most of the Sun
Almost all roses are full-sun plants, which means that they thrive in six hours of full sunlight every day. You want to plant your roses in an area where they will get a majority of their sun during the morning hours as the afternoon sun can dry them out in intense heat. You can still plant roses near your home and near taller shrubs, but they will benefit from being east facing to get all of that good morning sun.
If you follow these tips, you can easily create a beautiful rose garden of your own. Come into Burger Farm & Garden Center today to find the perfect rose for your garden. Our expert staff will help set you up for gardening success with ease.