Tell me how not to kill my bare root roses please!
+14
My brother bought several bare root roses for me for Christmas and helped me get them in the ground. I did put a large area of good top soil around and under each new rose. Now what? I live in Las Vegas and think the frost is past now. I need tips to help me nurture these guys so that I don't kill them like every other plant (even cactus) I've tried to grow here! How much water? What kind of fertilizer if any? What about systemic? I vaguely remember my Nana talking about that stuff but can't remember why, but it was good for her roses. And pruning once a year only in January? Is that true or what some people say twice a year? I don't want to let my brother down and I really am tired of burying my dead plants deep in the trash can so the trash guys don't see another one of my victims. (I have a dead palm in my back yard that died over a year ago and am too ashamed to take it to the trash, it's too big to hide in the can...
I'm a better gardener than a picture taker ACK
these are my roses (they're bare root roses - I didn't know and thought he was kidding around pretending to buy roses that were already dead lol)
Here it lay (the palm I killed) in my back yard. It had become of my dog's favorite pee spots, that is, until a puppy visiting us rearranged it and left it laying on it's side, as a good dead palm should.
13 answers
-
Honestly I think you should have amended the soil with a garden soil and not top soil. From the photo it appears to be very sandy soil.Hard to tell. I would recommend at this point since you have already planted the roses is to reach out to a knowledgeable and certified nursery specialist in you area.
Janet Pizaro
on Feb 08, 2016
- See 1 previous
-
I am going to chime in here and give you some advice- stop amending the soil. You live in Las Vegas and should try to find plants that are native or that will grow in your type of soil. What are your neighbors growing? Roses are a finicky plant but you have a better chance with bare roots. Is there any sign of life on the roses? You may want to consider replanting them But I know you said you put top soil around them but how big did you dig the hole? You do not dig the hole any deeper than the crown of the plant and you would make the hole about a foot around at least. As for fertilizing- not until it starts growing and taking off. Never fertilize when you plant or transplant. Roses need adequate moisture but do not overwater. I know that sounds crazy but since you are in Las VEgas you will need to make sure they get about a 5 gal bucket of water every 3-5 days depending upon temps. when the temps reach the hundreds in summer you will want to make sure they are watered every 3 days. Here is a link to a blogger friend of mine who grows roses http://www.allaboutrosegardening.com/ I hope this gives you some pointers. but go to a botanical garden and get some ideas for plants that do well in your area.
The Garden Frog with C Renee
on Feb 08, 2016
-
You need to mulch your roses that will protect them and fertilise them.
Nina
on Feb 08, 2016
-
Hi Nina, growing roses is very trying when in any climate but I do know that roses need bone meal and you can get that at any nursery...keep the soil most until they take off and since your in the Sandy location consider self waterers that can be made with a few different crafty ways for little cost
Della
on Feb 09, 2016
-
Big box store top soil is not the best choice for planting material. It usually contains chemicals such as round up. Dig up the rose and replace the soil with organic compost garden soil. Do not buy the cheapest you can find, as this is where your plant WILL LIVE for many years to come. Small independent plant nurseries will carry what you need. Do some research on the proper way to plant a bare root rose .There is a certain way to do this. Do not plant deeper than the "crown" or "graft" nodule.Top with MULCH (not that colored stuff) ,use natural hardwood mulch. Roses are not that hard if you are willing to NOT Neglect them. They need 5 things..Full sun. Moist soil,not soggy! Good organic fertilizer, they are hungry feeders. Mulch, and NO DOG PEE (put up a little decorative fence so the dog can't get near it). Treat this project like a recipe. Get instructions and your ingredients and cook it right. Ms. Garden frog has good advice about growing some native plants. Talk to your local private nursery, they will help you find some that will look great with your roses!
Lou Devillon
on Feb 09, 2016
-
Roses love banana peels--so when you eat a banana, put the peels around the base so that they can decay---you can also cover them with some dirt if you want.
Cathy
on Feb 09, 2016
-
Put them in a pot of good potting soil. Let them developed a dense rooting system. When they start popping flowers, fill a hole with potting soil and transplant your rooted plant. Before you do this put banana peels and egg shells in hole before you bury your plant. Also you may want to small fence around your plants so dog urine doesn't kill them, or put a fence around your dog.😆🐶🐶🐶🐶
Margolynluvsu
on Feb 09, 2016
-
http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/ho/2003/sp0315.pdf#search="growing roses" Here is a publication from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension on growing roses in the desert southwest.
Shelley Mitchell
on Feb 09, 2016
-
EXCELLENT article posted by Shelley Mitchell! Having grown roses in a commercial greenhouse and in my own yard while living rurally in the high desert of Colorado, I'd like to suggest the following: Plant in a sheltered location, especially not near a west facing wall. Afternoon temperatures there can reach 160F and cook your poor plants right in the ground. East facing side is best, sheltered from the worst of the winds. Water heavily in the morning and water DEEPLY. Keep the water off the leaves. Perhaps a root waterer would be useful if you only have a few to do. Deep roots are cool roots that don't evaporate water along with the rest of the plant and anchor firmly in the soil to resist our strong winds. A thick coat of mulch is your friend. By thick I mean three to four inches minimum. Shredded cedar mulch (not bark) once it's watered down tends to interlock, not blow away, repel insects AND as it breaks down, acidifies highly alkaline soils. Since your gifts are already in the ground, leave them where they are. If they don't flourish as they would have in California, don't lose heart! Begin by reconsidering what a rose is. Teas, floribundas, grandifloras, tree roses and grafted climbers are a lot of work to grow properly almost anywhere. Look instead at some of the modern shrub roses, or vintage varieties that grow on their own roots. After all, the biggest rose plant in the world grows in Tombstone, Arizona, planted in 1885. By large, at last report it covered 8000 square feet. (They sell rooted cuts of it, by the way ;) ) IF you have to replant, I suggest own root varieties, soaking overnight in a solution of something like Up Start, not rooting hormone. Once your rose is in the ground, use the solution for the first deep watering. For planting soil for almost anything in the desert/high country, I had great success with a mixture of 1 part good top soil, 1 part cow and compost and 1 part finely chopped pine bark, similar to the Soil Pep brand. The Front Range Rose Society markets a rose food specifically developed for the challenges of high country/desert gardening. It's called Mile High Rose Feed. I don't recommend anything else for the average home gardener. http://www.milehirosefeed.com/index.htm Finally, see if your state university or horticultural office offers gardening classes or perhaps a "master gardener" program. Most states seem to, and the cost isn't awful. I learned lots, met other avid gardeners and even if it was the middle of the winter, I still got my gardening itch scratched. Your local American Rose Society chapter is a treasure house of information and support as well. I hope this long post helped, and I wish you the best of luck and much joy in your garden. LATE BREAKING DEVELOPMENT: I just saw this today, and thought it was a *brilliant* solution to gardening in the intermountain and desert west. It answers all the difficulties I can think of, PLUS making gardening easier for those of us of a (ahem) certain age. No more bending over or getting down on our knees. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/feb/28/keyhole-raised-garden-water-savings/ I don't know that I'd actually try to make compost in the "keyhole" but I'd certainly use it to add compost without topdressing and wasting it to run off, and the water savings is incredibly ingenious. The notion was developed for food crops, but I can't think of a single reason it wouldn't work in an urban environment for decorative planting, too. Those inexpensive concrete wedges that people use for retaining walls are tailor made for this idea. Can you imagine your roses underplanted with some perennials and maybe a dense groundcover to spill prettily over the wall?!?!
A.L. Chynoweth
on Feb 09, 2016
-
setting them up in a pot first to establish them is a great idea. Once established dig a hole twice as deep and wide as the pot fill the base with a good garden soil then put in your rose plant, Don't bury the knobby part at the base and ensure that it is mounded around the stem. Trim toe root ball slightly by roughly a third before potting to get the root growth going and don't let them dry out. You can but rose food from any garden centre read the NPK on the back of the package and use similar foods. The like rich moist soil to grow in, and absolutely thrive in clay soils, as you are the other end of the spectrum there are types of cat litter that are mostly clay based that you could add to the soil to help it retain moisture in your "soil". Impressed that you killed the catus, my friend won't feel so bad about her concrete thumbs, she can kill them too. Good luck in your gardening endeavours, and, most of all enjoy.
Lee Govan
on Feb 09, 2016
-
coffee grounds are good to put around your plants.. its a great source of nitrogen.. I use it on roses (as well as other plants) save your used coffee grounds and spread them around the base of the plant I do it at least twice a year just before fall and again when they begin to bud... Its a good booster for them and its natural rather than synthetic.. doesnt take a lot but the rewards are great!!.
Buster Evans
on Feb 09, 2016
-
I would think that the publication from U of Nevada would have the best info. I usually soak my bareroots overnight in water then trim off any broken roots and lightly trim all the other roots. There is no research that supports the use of Vitamin B. I rather like a product from M-Grow called "Start up" . Go easy on Nitrogen til they have good root support.
Marcia
on Feb 10, 2016
-
I do not know about sandy soil. I live in Pa and where I live there is a lot of coal ash in soil which has something to help them grow. I have a bunch of rose bushes and people ask what kind of plant food I put on them. I put nothing on them and do not water because of the soil here, hold water. They grow like crazy, the only thing I do it pinch off dead ones or cut for arrangements. this keeps the plant full of energy to grow new sprouts and not trying to keep dead or blooms a live. They have taken what they need to bloom now need new ones. I cut them back after first hard frost which was about November this year, they kept flowering til then.
Waldschmj
on Feb 15, 2016
Sign Up to Answer
