growing roses successfully when your drainage is not
good. Heirloom Roses owner Peggy-Anne Pineau explains
what’s involved in the process.
require. It also is the easiest way to make sure your soil contains all the nutritional
elements for healthy growth and optimum blooms when first planting a rose bed.
Ideally, the best time to do this is in spring for fall planting and in fall for spring planting.
The two main reasons for this are:
1. Earth that is newly dug is porous and full of air pockets. Depending on how much you
have worked it will determine how much it will settle or sink after rains and heavy snow weighs
on it. This leaves plants either too low in the ground (they’ve sunk) or too high leaving them
vulnerable to frost heaving and crown damage.
2. Hopefully, you will have added organic matter to the soil making it an optimum-growing
medium for roses. These amendments need time so that the micro-organisms can process it to
produce the major elements that your roses will feed on; unlike synthetic fertilizers that when
dissolved or broken down by water give immediate nutrition. Air, heat (temperature), water and
TIME are needed for this process to occur.
- First to find out if your existing soil has good drainage try this:
Dig a hole a minimum of 16” deep and fill it with water. It should drain away
completely within 12 hrs.
- If it doesn’t you will have to either:
· Install some sort of drainage away from the bed, i.e. French drains or drainage pipe.
· Build raised beds (what this article is about)
- · Or find another place all together for the rose bed, as roses will not tolerate their
roots sitting in water!
Here’s what we do for building up the rose beds in our rose garden.
Most vigorous roses need deep rich, loose soil to thrive. Budded or Grafted roses need their
bud union four inches below ground surface for adequate frost protection. That means a pretty
deep hole!
To get a good, deep bed that will allow the roots develop the “Deep Bed Method” is best.
Simply putting a mound of soil on the existing ground is not enough. As soon as the roots hit
the harder soil they either stop, grow sideways or up OR at the best they slowly make their way
down farther. This is not a good thing if you’re in a cold, sub zero climates. The deep the roots
the better survival of the rose!
- Deep Bed Method:
- 1. Plot out the size and boundaries of the bed. A hose or twine works well.
2. If you have a rotor-tiller spread your organic amendments (manure, seaweed,
compost, old leaves, alfalfa and most important bone meal) in a deep layer over the
area. Now till the soil as deeply as the machine will allow. This will take several times -
each time moving in a perpendicular angle until the existing turf and amendments are
fully mixed and the soil it crumbly. If your soil is full of clay gypsum can be added per
instruction on the bag. This is an excellent amendment to help break up clay and
purge the soil of salts from previous synthetic fertilizing if it was previously a part of
your lawn. .
3. If you have only your good old manpower after you plot out the bed, place
stakes at all four ends of the bed and tie a rope around them pushing it down to soil
level (so that it’s not in the way when digging but giving you an accurate guide)
a). Apply the organic matter as above.
b.) Starting at the smallest end dig down the depth of your shovel throwing the
soil and amendments onto a tarp, not onto the bed!
c.) Now, take your shovel or a pick axe and loosen the subsoil (that’s the soil at
the bottom of the trench you’ve just dug). This is especially important if your soil has
plenty of clay or is really hard packed.
d.) Dig the second trench next to the first one but instead of putting it on a tarp
you are going to throw it into the bottom of your first trench. Continue to dig along the
trench the depth of your shovel while filling the previous one. Again take a pickaxe
and loosen the subsoil. ‘Continue this until the bed is completely dug.
e.) Not take the soil on the tarp and fill the last trench with it.
4. If your soil has good drainage you are now ready to plant next season.
Chances are you will have to build up or add more soil by planting time as this will
sink.
5. If you need to build up your beds - now you can add good topsoil from a
garden center or soil supplier up to a minimum height of one foot. Softly pack down
all around the edges on a 45-degree angle. A covering of mulch is advisable as this
will help stop weeds that are in the soil from germinating, stop the earth from washing
away or eroding and also stop pounding rain and the weight of snow from over
compacting it.
a.) If you build it up more than this, you’ll need some sort of retaining material
such as old logs, rocks, brick etc. for the soil will eventually erode onto the
surrounding area.
Yes, it is a lot of work to build-up rose beds but I can guarantee you the results are
well worth it. Healthy, vigorous roses that would not be possible in poorly drained or
clay soil!
