Rose Bush Care Maintenance - 3 Tips to Easy Rose Bush Care
Roses have been some of the most popular flowers for gardeners for over 5000 years. Over that time they have been symbols of both great loves and great wars. And many myths have grown around and surrounded roses and rose bush care maintenance. People often hear myths about fertilizing, pruning and winterizing rose bushes, that stop them from growing this great flowering shrub. This article will explore some of these myths and show you that caring for roses is need not be complicated.
Rose Bush Care Maintenance Myths
Myth# 1 - Roses are difficult to fertilize
Roses are heavy feeders so what happens most of the time is that new rose gardeners "underestimate" the amount of plant food that a growing rosebed requires. Roses should be fertilized a minimum of 3 times a year: in the spring before budding, again in summer after the first blooms have appeared and again in the fall before winter. A simple way for most beginner rose gardeners is to use a water-based rose food and feed their plants every 4-6 weeks just by giving a nice deep soak.
Another problem is poor soil. Most people seldom have their soil tested…until it's too late! Rose grow best in a pH range of 5.5 to 7.0. When planting roses you should first test your soil to determine it pH. Add lime to soil under 5.5 (to raise the pH) and sulfur to soil over 7.0 (to lower the pH).
Myth# 2 - Roses are difficult to prune
Roses need to be pruned in different ways for optimum health: cane or stalk pruning and bloom pruning. Lopping off canes serves two functions; one to revitalize plants (cutting back old, dead or diseased branches forces new growth) and increases airflow and sunlight distribution (better light and air circulation keeps the plant healthy).
The second type of pruning is the infamous "deadheading". This is very important to rose bush care maintenance. Many varieties of roses are not "self cleaning" which meaning that the old rose blooms don't fall away cleanly from the tip after they wither. So you will have to manually "deadhead" or "pinch back" those old, ugly blossom heads. This improves appearance of the rose bush in general and prevents many diseases from entering the plant.
Myth# 3 - Roses are difficult to winterize
Nothing is as frustrating for the home gardener is carefully baby their rose bushes all spring and summer long only to watch helplessly as they are picked off by the angry cold blasts of winter. Remove dead or diseased canes and debris from the bush. For mild winters, tie all the canes together and then mound up 8 to 10 inches of loose soil and mulch around the plant base.
For extreme winter conditions, tie the canes together and mound up the soil at the base. But then cover the entire rose bush with burlap cloth or an especially made rose protector. Insulate the inside of the covering with straw or leaves. This should keep your plants protected even in snow drifts.
Once you understand how simple rose bush care maintenance can be you can start designing the rose garden you have always wanted.