Rose Care – Planting, Pruning, Fertilizing

If you have roses in your garden, you're probably especially proud of these beauties. That's why proper rose care is absolutely essential if you want them to stay beautiful for a long time. The right care begins even before planting.

Truthfully, with roses, you'll never be bored all year round. Beauty simply comes at a price, and even if roses require a few maintenance tasks, the effort is quite manageable.

Sometimes it really does come down to the foundation you lay. After all, a house won't stand straight if the first brick is laid crooked. The same applies when planting roses.

The best time to plant roses is autumn. This gives them a significant head start over roses planted in spring. In autumn, roses are often offered for sale as bare-root roses, which are usually more affordable than containerized plants and are also planted in the fall.

Even before planting, roses should be adequately watered. You can do this by soaking the roses in water before planting. After planting, they should continue to receive regular watering so they can establish well and prepare for winter.

Newly planted roses do not need to be fertilized in autumn. In fact, they shouldn't be, because fertilizer stimulates plant growth, and vigorous new growth in autumn would lead to frost damage in winter. Fertilizing is scheduled for spring. Until then, regular and sufficient water is all the roses need.

Especially in summer, garden plants tend to wilt in overly hot temperatures. That's why roses should be watered thoroughly in the early morning or late evening during the summer months. It's crucial to remember that roses should only be watered at the base of the stem, never from above. Watering from above can lead to fungal infections. If leaves are already affected by fungi, they should be removed from the rose and disposed of in the trash, not on the compost pile, to prevent the compost from becoming infected.

Besides watering, roses in the garden also appreciate fertilizer. This can be provided either in the form of fresh compost or a specialized rose fertilizer available from garden centers. In both cases, loosen the soil around the rose bush and then apply the fertilizer.

Roses that bloom multiple times a year should also have their withered blooms removed in the summer. This is done with special rose shears, cutting below the first compound leaf. In late summer or autumn, after flowering, all remaining flower heads should be removed.

To ensure your garden roses survive winter well, they need a little help. They get this support in the form of a warm coat and warm shoes.

The warm "shoes" are essentially a layer of soil mounded around each individual rose bush. Additionally, fir branches can be laid out to protect the stem and roots. Garden centers also offer special rose protection that can be wrapped around the stem.

Despite these "warm feet," hybrid tea roses (Edelrosen) can still be very sensitive and benefit from additional protection in the form of a jute sack. This sack should be breathable and can be further filled with leaves before being pulled over the crown. The jute sack is then tied at the base of the stem, protecting the rose from the upcoming frost.

When no more frost is expected in the new year, the winter protection can be removed. To kick off the new season, roses will appreciate a good portion of compost and, starting in May, a special rose fertilizer. Frozen shoots should be removed, ensuring your roses bring romance to your garden again in the new year.