It’s easy to grow beautiful roses in your garden.
They are low maintenance once established, producing a mass of blooms twice a year. 

You can spend as little or as much time on your roses as you choose, but either way, here are a few pointers to keep your roses looking their best throughout the year.

How to care for roses 

Fertilising Roses

Roses are gross feeders, so if you give them plenty of food, they'll give you plenty of growth. Fertilise in early spring and again in late summer. Fertilising produces healthy growth which is less susceptible to garden pests and diseases. There are several types of fertiliser available which have been designed specifically for roses. Always follow the directions on the label.

Watering Roses

Although roses don’t like having wet feet, they do need water to grow. The best advice is to water longer, less often. Water deeply twice a week throughout summer, and less often during the cooler months. Always water the soil and not the leaves of your roses. Wet foliage can encourage fungal diseases like black spot and powdery mildew.

Ideally, it is best to water roses at soil or ground level through irrigation like drippers or sprinklers or manually with a hose or watering can. Roses can be susceptible to fungal diseases like black spot, so it is best to avoid watering the leaves and foliage of the shrub.

Water newly planted roses regularly until the plant establishes, after the first summer, water seasonally. Monitor roses during dry spells, especially while flowering roses may need extra water to bloom abundantly.

Roses can be susceptible to fungal diseases like black spot, so it is best to avoid watering the shrubs during the night when it can increase the humidity around the plant. Ideally, it is best to water roses early in the morning.

Mulching Roses

Mulching not only helps to reduce weed growth, it reduces water loss by minimising evaporation. Apply mulch about 15cm thick around your roses but be sure to keep it away from the stems as this can cause collar rot. Roses generally enjoy lucerne as a thick garden mulch.

Mulching beneath roses is very beneficial as it suppresses weeds, retains water in the soil and improves the soil over time with regular applications. Mulch with good quality well-rotted compost, pea straw or equivalent. Roses can also be underplanted with ground covers like Lamb's ear, Violas or Sweet Alyssum for a 'living mulch.

Pests and diseases  

No matter how much care you take, roses are susceptible to a couple of common ailments, most, of which, are easily rectified with a quick organic spray with pyrethrum to ward off aphids and a fungal spray to keep powdery mildew and black spot in check.

How to care for bare root roses when they arrive

Bare root roses are supplied dormant without foliage or flowers. Bare root roses travel well and remain fresh during transit, however there are some important tips to know to refresh them after travel and get them to establish well in your garden.

When your bare root roses arrive, unwrap them and soak the roots in a bucket of water (like you would a bunch of cut flowers) for at least 24 hours prior to planting. You can also add a little seaweed solution to the bucket.

Leave to soak until you are ready to plant as the exposed roots will dry out quickly and become damaged if exposed to the air for long periods of time — even when dormant.

Prepare the soil for planting prior to arrival of your bare root roses, to give them the best possible start.

Find a suitable position and enrich the soil with compost and other organic additives like Rockdust and MycoGold.

Dig an area slightly larger and deeper than required to open the soil and improve root penetration.

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