Growing Radiant Roses in WA

Name: Baileys Fertilisers
Address: Perth, Western Australia
Telephone: (08) 9439 1688

Author

Baileys Fertiliser

Published

12 November 2020

Flowers & Ornamentals

Roses are super performing plants and can deliver a flower show across 7 to 9 months of the year. Some of the blooms make brilliant-cut flowers, while others make a garden glow with colour. Many have enough perfume to knock you over.

They come in many forms from ground covers to ramblers through to small trees and are usually long-lived plants, making beautiful living heirlooms to pass down through the generations.

Where to plant Roses

A sunny spot south of the Tropic of Capricorn is a pretty good start. Roses can grow in light shade but it does tend to reduce their flowering performance. In either clay soils, gravel or sand, roses need a good dose of soil carbon to do their best.

How to plant Roses

Add Baileys Soil Improver Plus before planting to help feed the soil, dig a hole twice the diameter and just slightly deeper that the pot. If planting in clay make the hole three times wider than the pot.

Using the pot your rose came in as a measure, mix one pot full of Baileys Soil Improver Plus with an equal amount of excavated soil and backfill. If your soil is very sandy, improve first with Baileys Clay & Compost to improve nutrient and water holding capacity. If re-planting in a pot use a free draining mix like Baileys Premium Potting Mix.

How to prune Roses

Of all the tasks associated with growing roses, pruning is the one that causes the most angst. The fact is you can't go wrong even if you are overenthusiastic. It's actually better to overdo the pruning than to leave your bushes untrimmed.

One of the easiest ways of pruning bush or shrub roses is called ''a half by a half by a pencil''. Start by working out the halfway point between the base of the bush and the tallest growth. Take a pair of hedgers and cut all stems straight through, finishing up with a tabletop effect. Then look carefully at all the stems to see which are grey and scaly (more than 2 years old) versus those that have red or green thin bark (these are the young stems from last season's growth).

Use a pair of loppers to cut half of the number of stems back to the base, always removing the old stems in favour of the young. If any stems remain that are thinner than a pencil completely remove these too. There - you have professionally pruned your roses.

Feeding Roses

Immediately after planting weekly applications of a seaweed solution for the first month will help settle the roots. When the weather starts to warm up commence feeding every 4 - 6 weeks with Baileys Soil Matters Garden or Baileys Rose, Camellia & Azalea to optimise growth of roses and promote an abundance of bright blooms and rich dark foliage.

No part of a garden should be without a cover for the soil. One of the secrets to successfully growing roses is to apply and maintain a 5 to 10 cm thick layer of chunky mulch, such as Baileys Moisture Mulch.

Watering & caring for your Roses

Roses are fast growing; heavy flowering shrubs and they do need to be regularly and deeply watered to perform at their peak. They have however, proved to be amazingly drought tolerant once fully established. The first year after planting is critical to survival and your roses will need daily watering. Once established over twelve months two good soakings per week will suffice.