Tag Archive for: easy care roses

3 tips for roses in your garden

3 tips for roses in your garden
You can worship roses and grow them easily and with abandon like in this garden filled with Flower Carpet® ground cover roses.

Celebrity status comes with a sting. The greater your celebrity crush, the higher the pedestal you’ve built and the more unattainable the subject of your fandom becomes. This happens to gardeners who are rose fans. Being the celebrity flower since ancient times, the rose is the mega-star in the garden. Everyone knows who the rose is and there would be few people who wouldn’t want a garden dripping with rose blooms. And like most celebrities, with roses there’s a lot of rose myth and gossip going around, enough to make anyone new to gardening roll their eyes and run screaming from the garden centre in fear. So here to help us all grow famous roses beautifully are 3 tips for roses in your garden…

1. Roses are just plants: they may be the queen of the Plant Kingdom but they are just green growing things like every other plant. Which means that if you know what plants need to grow happily, then you’ve got them sorted. They want sunlight, fresh air, water and soil. So when you pick a spot to plant your new rose, look up and around and if it seems like a sunny, airy spot, go for it. Start digging the hole and if the soil looks a bit unappetizing, dig in some compost to lighten things up a bit (maybe buy a bag from the garden centre). Then once your plant is in the ground, water it in well and set a reminder on your phone to water at least once a week for a few weeks (more often if it’s hot).

3 tips for roses in your garden
Like most plants, roses need sunshine, regular watering (at least at first), and some plant food if you remember.

2. Side-step the bad roses: there are lots and lots of roses to fall in love with but sadly, just like people, there are some impossibly beautiful varieties that are hard work. Keen horticulturalists who love a challenge are happy to tend to these fussy princesses but even these gardeners will often weep over too few blooms, chronic aphid infestations and the dreaded black spot. So the best approach for most of us is to be tough at the beginning and only plant and tend roses that aren’t fussy (check out the Flower Carpet® roses). I mean – seriously – who needs stress in the garden? If we pick roses that the industry gives the Big Tick, our efforts will be consistently rewarded.

Pick an easy to grow rose like these Flower Carpet® roses and you won’t be bothered by pests, diseases or the need for fancy pruning.

3. Pruning is scary: no it isn’t. Even if you have an ancient rose bush that your great aunt has asked you to prune, it’s hard to go far wrong. Use clean secateurs or loppers. Take two thirds off or just give it a light once-over. It’s a green hair cut and like hair, it will grow back. And each time you prune, you will have the confidence to play around a little more. There is only one tip to keep in mind: most rose bushes are a splice of one rose for the root section and one for the bush above. Without getting too far into the science behind grafted roses, it’s good to know because you want to keep your pruning above the bulgy graft mark on the main stem of the rose bush or you might lose the fancy rose that blooms on the top. And if you spot some serious sucker shoot coming out of the bottom bit – make sure you take them off. Having said all that, if you grow a rose like Flower Carpet® roses you don’t have to think about any of this because these roses are grown on their own roots – they are all one single plant so you can cut them wherever you like.

This is what a traditional graft looks like – the point where one type of rose root stock grows downwards into the soil and the other type of gorgeous flowering rose grows upwards into a bush. Tip: don’t cut everything off above this line or you’ll lose the fancy rose on top.

How to care for your roses

how to care for your roses
An easily pleased, healthy Flower Carpet® Pink rose loving the full sun as much as the lavender it’s growing with.

You love roses. You’d love to grow your own roses, but you’ve heard roses can be tricky. Here’s some rose tips, so you can learn how to care for your roses, starting with tip number one…

1. The right spot: it’s a basic move and it makes sense. Roses prefer a sunny spot so put them in a sunny spot. Whether you’re planting them into a garden bed or dragging a planter into position, make sure there is plenty of sunshine for your new roses. The science behind plants means the more hours of sunlight, the more flowers you’ll be enjoying. The plants will also be bushier and healthier. So don’t fight the science – plant where it’s sunny.

how to care for your roses
To have thick healthy foliage like this Flower Carpet® Appleblossom rose, never grow a fussy rose, or force a rose to grow in the shade.

2. The right rose: it’s a sad truth but many roses can be disappointing. They might not produce many flowers, and these may only appear over a few weeks. The plants themselves can often be an ugly shape as well as being prone to pests and diseases. (Do black spot and aphids ring any bells?) The best move then is to only grow roses that are disease resistant, bushy, and long flowering. To see what this looks like, check out the Flower Carpet® roses as a start.

rose tips for pruning
Looking after an easy rose like the Flower Carpet® rose means pruning is as simple as this dotted line – a fast cut back once a year.

3. No fuss or bother: keep plant care simple and manageable and success will follow. If you’ve followed rose tips 1 and 2 you’ll have picked the right rose, planted it in the right spot, and maintenance will be a breeze. Once a year you’ll cut your rose bush back (before winter). In spring you’ll toss a handful of fertiliser around each plant. And if your summer ends up being a bit dry you may do a bit of watering.

how to care for your roses
It is great to know that not only are there great, easy to grow roses out there like Flower Carpet® roses, but they also come in lots of different colours.

4. Maximise the rose vibe: if you’re growing roses it’s because you love roses. And with these tips on how to care for your roses you know which ones to plant and how to grow them with no effort. If you have acres of land, you can grow lots of roses massed in glorious beds. And if you have a tiny patio, you can still get that surrounded-by-roses feeling but you’ll need to be more strategic. Plant a rose that will flower for the longest period (this is probably the Flower Carpet® roses mentioned earlier). Fill three large planters with them and keep up the water and be sure to fertilise in spring. Arrange the planters so that your outdoor seating is surrounded, then when you sit down you’ll be neck deep in rosy blooms.