Many people believe that planting a rose garden is beyond their gardening abilities.
Bloemfontein is the City Of Roses, and the floral displays in many of the residential gardens throughout the city's suburbs really makes for a great, uplifting spring experience. These beautiful private gardens also serves as proof that ordinary gardeners can also master the cultivation of roses.
This article gives some pointers on planting a Rose Garden.
Planning A Rose Garden
Plan the layout. Use graph paper and draw the space you have to work with to scale. Play around with different combinations of colour and hights untill you find the most pleasing arrangement.
Most people prefer symmetry and formal layouts, but the choice is yours.
Rose beds should not be too wide, becasue you have to be able to reach the roses for pruning and caring without compacting the beds.
Incorporate hedges, low walls, lattice and fencing into your design. But keep in mind that tall structures create shadows that may influence your roses and may restrict the air flow. Diseases and fungi thrive in areas where there is little air circulation.
Add a focal point, like a statue, water feature, or sundial to draw the eye and tie the rose display together. What about an obelisk obscured by some climbing roses? Find a shaded spot for a bench to admire your rose garde from and relax with your cup of tea.
Roses should be planted at least 30cm away from walls to allow for proper root development.
Select roses that are suitable for their function. A large rambler will overpower a tyical garden obelisk. A less rampant rose or a rose with smaller blooms may be more suitable. Ask your supplier, they will be more than happy to advise you.
Keep certain colours and shades together, rather than mixing the roses into a clashing noise. Plant yellows in one bed and shades of pink in another.
Plant taller bushes to the back or centre of the rose bed and shorter, smaller bushes to the front and edges.
Label your roses or keep a record of exacly what you plant where.
Often, the edges of rose beds are left bare. Introduce some catmint, lavender or pansies to frame the beds.
Preparing The Rose Beds
Good preperation will ensure successful healthy roses.
Dig over the whole rose bed u to a depth of 60cm. Keep the top 30cm of soil to one side. Loosen the next 30cm of subsoil. Add compost, some general fertiliser and a handful of bonemeal per square metre, then mix.
Mix compost and bonemeal into the topsoil as well, and place on top of the bed. The rose bed should now be higher than the surrounding ground level. Water thouroughly and leave for a few days before planting.
Planting The Roses
Mark the rose positions from the plan. Dig holes just big enough to accommodate the bag the rose bush comes in.
Cut the bags and remove them before placing the rose bush in the hole at the same depth as it was in the bag. Fill in the soil and press down well to remove air pockets and to form a basin around the plant.
Water each plant with about 20 litres of fresh water. Press the soil down again the next day, and water again.
After two or three weeks, level the basins and cover the soil with mulch.
Caring For Your Rose Garden
Water your roses at least twice a week with deep waterings rather than more frequent shallow sprinklings. A spray or drip irrigation system is ideal.
Use mulch to protect the roots and limit evaporation.
Fertilise each bush every four to six weeks with a balanced fertiliser.
If you need to spray for insects, use an organic insecticide spray that control harmful insects without causing secondary poisoning.
Planting A Rose Garden
The effort you put into planting a rose garden will be rewarded with years of enyoyment and invaluable beauty.
