How to Care for Long-Blooming Roses

Roses, besides being magnificent flowers, have a long history. The oldest rose planted today was in existence some 3,000 years ago according to The Old Farmers Almanac.

Roses crave sunlight and generous helpings of food and water. In most climates, provide at least six hours of sunlight per day. If you live in a very hot climate, plant them where they are shaded from the hot afternoon sun. When watering, water at the base of the plant - water the soil, never pour it over the plant!  Provide at least an inch or two of water per week.  Natural cedar mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil and evens out temperatures in winter as well as on hot summer days.

Coffee Grounds
The reason coffee grounds are so good for rose bushes is because of their high nitrogen content. Roses need neutral to acidic soil, and if you add coffee grounds, it will help take the pH from neutral to acidic. ... Plus, astonishingly as it may seem, many bugs and pests are repelled by coffee grounds.

When to Plant Roses
Bare-root roses: Plant in late autumn at leaf fall, and from late winter to early spring, before growth resumes. Avoid planting in the middle of winter when the ground is frozen. Container-grown roses: Plant all year round, provided the ground is neither frozen, nor dry. Plant roses in rich, well-draining soil. When planting, mix organic matter, such as compost or ground bark, into excavated soil you'll use to backfill the planting hole.


Rose Pruning
Use very sharp rose scissors. If the machine does not cut properly, there is a risk of bruising, the cutting point is not clean and is a target for disease.

An old, slightly neglected bed rose can be shortened more radically, which means "rejuvenating", a young climbing rose just wants to be cleaned out.

Cut all old, dead, and very weak shoots - regardless of the type of rose. Men tend to cut a lot, women usually cut far too little : )

Look for an outward-facing eye, about 20 to 60 centimeters above the ground, place scissors in a fourth-degree angle just above it, and cut off smoothly.

Take a step back and examine your work.  Be stern with yourself and rework.  Ten centimeters more might still work. If you feel that you have cut too much off, it is probably just right.  You can't cut off too much.

Every five years even the climbing rose can tolerate an incision to rejuvenate.  Unlike haircutting, shortening the shoots stimulates growth.  Because roses only bloom on new wood, this is also good for the flowering.  Only if you cut, can the rose bloom again, the cut gives it vitality.

Otherwise, each rose is pruned differently: The shrub roses should grow bushy, the noble rose has only one flower per stem, the bed rose looks nicer if it also bears flowers on the lower levels.  Bed roses don't not have too much-lignified stems, so it must be pruned at the bottom.

You should also avoid spraying, for example, if one plant has developed rust, you must take care that it does not infect the others.  To prevent this, cut off all infested leaves, even a radical cut can be advisable.

Black Spots and Rust: 
I have had the best experience with a simple household remedy:
I bought a big bag of cornflour, lightly sprayed the rose with water, and then sprinkled the cornflour all over the plant.  Two days later the procedure again and the rose was free of the ugly spots.

The annual rose pruning should be done in spring, to avoid severe frost.  Once the forsythia has withered, is the best time.  In autumn you can do a slight pruning, then everything looks a bit tidier - but you also would miss the pretty rose hips.

The tart reddish-orange hips of rugosa rose hips are used for jams, jellies, syrups, pies, teas, and wine. Check out our Rose Hip Jam recipe.  Rose petals are edible and can be tossed into salads for color, candied to decorate cakes, or distilled to make rose water.


See videos about pruning roses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6la_YikkQc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN3G-wpWtFY

Like to have more rose plants?
Propagation - How to grow roses from cuttings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw4d-s9N8zE

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Gardens of Horror

Recently I saw a documentary about the "Gardens of Horror" where house owners cover their front yard complete with small stones. Shocking pictures for a nature lover and garden designer! 

A Complete Garden of Stones?
They are often touted as the easiest way to maintain a garden from sellers of these stones and rocks.  Young families buying a property with a garden for the first time are quickly drawn to this "design" - even it is not cheap to install.

Why the strictly-cut Taxus, why the gravel garden that welcomes the returning person in his suburban settlement in the evening?  There is probably longing for control: If I am pushed and controlled at work during the day - in my garden I decide what grows and what doesn't.  An illusion - and by the way: The gravel garden will take care of itself.  After a year or two, people will see dandelions boring their way through the gravel.  And then in fall, leaves from neighboring trees that will stick between the stones, pioneer plants like birches, for example, that the wind blows in: Wait and see.

What are the Reasons for This?
In inner-city locations, professional activity usually stands in the way of the hobby of gardening.  Even though gardening is a soothing and rewarding hobby.  Here it is less a question of visual or aesthetic reasons than of the time factor.  But what are folks doing with the time they gain?  Watching Netflix I assume.

More Weeds - More Work!
Erroneously, rockeries seem to require the least maintenance, but this is not true.  They only look good for the first month after installation... But after a short time, the first weeds appear - which can hardly be removed because the tiny roots clinch to the plastic foil underneath the stones.  This plastic foil is touted by the garden centers as "keeping the weeds underneath from sprouting - which is not true.  The majority of weeds are blowing in by the wind or are carried by birds.  They then settle on the stones, creep between them, and happily grow and seeds, bringing even more weeds to life. In autumn, leaves from the surrounding area fly between the stones and can only be removed individually with great effort. So, no little bit of labor-saving!

What Effect do Rock Gardens Have on the Microclimate?
Besides the visual "greying" of the cities, rockeries have very negative effects on the microclimate:  Due to the lack of greenery and trees, the stones heat up in summer and give off heat to the surroundings.  Since the stones also store the heat, the garden or the soil cannot cool down even at night.  Water-impermeable gravel beds prevent rainwater from seeping into the ground and thus promote the drying out of the soil.

Negative Effects on Flora and Fauna
Due to the lack of vegetation, insects, birds, and other animals have a harder time finding food and habitat.  Of course, there are also rockeries that take these aspects into account, but they are rather the exception.  Individual stones in the garden between the trees, bushes, and flowers look attractive.  But a whole front garden crammed with stones...

A property with a normally laid out front garden sells better, as the buyer does not have to expect large additional costs for the redesign.  In contrast, rock gardens can only be re-naturalized with great effort and corresponding costs - these costs must be taken into account by the buyer when purchasing.

Rock gardens are not good for the air quality or the vegetation and they are at the expense of nature. In the end, they have a negative influence on our quality of life.

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Is Your Garden in Survival Mode?

Visiting gardens of friends last month I was shocked how dry their garden beds were. Spring flowers were already starting to wilt before they would bloom...  When I mentioned it to them they answered totally surprised: "Why water during cool spring weather?" I grabbed a garden tool to dig into the compact soil - and showed them that it was totally dry - down to at least 10 inches. 

Why Start Watering in Early Spring
Much of the snow in Spring does not melt, but rather evaporate.  That means the garden soil is not thoroughly moistened.  Often the air is rather dry during the Spring months.  For example, in the Ottawa, Canada, area the humidity level was for almost two months (April and May of this year) well under 50%, often under 40%.  Spring is the time when plants start to build new roots, buds, leaves, and flowers - in one word the most important time of the year.  And watering then as important as it is in the hottest summer months.

Additionally, many flower beds are in the vicinity or even under huge trees. Feeder roots of these trees are near the surface and they "steal" moisture that flowers and shrubs then are missing.  Even if it rains, large trees prevent the water to reach thirsty soil underneath.

Your Garden Soil
Easily test if the soil needs to be watered: Grab a handful of the soil, press it into a ball, and then open your hand. If the ball stays, your soil is fine. But if the ball falls apart or cannot even be built, waste no time to thoroughly water.

Before we go into the watering tips, let me talk about your soil: Healthy, well-composted soil retains moisture.  Add composted chicken, cow, or sheep manure - in case you don't make your own garden compost.  And mulch heavily with natural cedar mulch.  This doesn't only keep the weeds at bay, evens out temperatures, but also holds the soil underneath moist. 


Don't Drink for Two Weeks?
Would you be still alive?  Most likely you wouldn't live anymore after a couple of days... But then, why would anyone not water their plants for two months? 

I saw this first-hand at a garden in which three lilac bushes have been planted last year. They bloomed beautifully by then - but were totally dead last week (in early June).  This year's leaf and flower buds were totally dried out.  Asking the garden owner how often he had watered the lilacs this spring, he answered: "Not yet, it wasn't really hot so far".  I was stunned by his answer... Well, it's his garden!

How Often to Water Your Plants?

In the flower bed, two watering sessions per week are usually sufficient: better to water less often but with plenty of water rather than a little water often.  Should the temperatures climb over 80 degrees F, water at least three times per week.  Newly planted flowers need to be watered every day during the first two weeks after planting. The same for flowers in window boxes or small containers.

Best to water early in the morning before the sun rises. When you water cooled soil, less water evaporates than it would on hot soil during the day.

Don't water in the evening and keep leaves and blooms dry to avoid diseases.  Wet leaves become diseased leaves. Kept wet overnight, leaf-mold diseases may result.
Suitable watering means that the water must sufficiently reach the roots.  Water the soil around the plants, not overhead the flowers! Water evenly around the plant for a balanced well-developed root system.  Always watering at only one root point leads to one-sided root growth and thereby to poorer nutrient absorption in the soil. Therefore, always water around the plant.


Watering Made Easy

Are you weary of dragging a heavy garden hose through your property?  No question, it's no fun and I totally agree with you!  However, for a number of years, there are light-weight garden hoses available that are expanding (and shrinking after you turn off the water).  For me, it’s the perfect garden hose: extremely light-weight and 100 ft long. Featherlight: I could carry the complete hose with one small finger.

This hose expands 3 times its length when water pressure is on.  It contracts to its original length when pressure is off.  And best of all, it never tangles, twists or kinks, and is easy to store in small places.

Should you not have enough time in your busy life, a sprinkler to water the garden is better than nothing. A sprinkler with a built-in mechanical timer lets you leave for work in the morning but stops the watering at the time you have chosen. There are also digital timers available - you don't even need to go out in the garden. They start at the set time without your help.

Gardeners can also use water-saving irrigation methods e.g. with a drip automatic irrigation system using moisture sensors – in the flower bed, on the balcony, and on the lawn.  However, not easy to install in an old, established garden or with lots of trees.
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Conclusion:
There is really no point in letting your garden plants suffer! These days it is easy and fast to irrigate your garden beds, shrubs, and trees.  With the right equipment, you don't have to lift a finger to keep your plants safe and healthy!  No excuses!

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