Follow the fundamentals of rose care for success

The variation in climate from garden to garden in our area makes it tough to provide one set of suggestions for everyone this month. Some gardens are approaching or are in a bloom cycle, while others are at the end or are finishing a cycle.

If your rose garden is at the end of a bloom cycle, it’s time to “dead head.” Don’t be alarmed by the term! It’s just a minor mid-season pruning to remove spent blooms and encourage a new bloom cycle.

First assess the cane below each withered blossom: does it have a lot of small canes coming off of it? If so, look for the first outward-facing leaflet below that cluster of canes and prune just above the bud.

(If the cane doesn’t have a cluster of small canes, find the first outward facing leaflet on an area of the stem that’s about as thick as a wooden pencil.)

Cutting as directed will ensure a strong new cane because it’s on a cane that is nice and thick.

When you make the cut, angle your pruners so the cut is a little higher on the leaflet side than on the backside. The cut on the backside should be above the leaflet. How far above? About the thickness of the cane.

The slight angle of the cut will help keep moisture from accumulating on the bud, where it could cause problems.

As the weather heats up and the sun gets stronger, your roses are going to become ferocious eaters. Feed regularly – twice a month if you can manage it.

First give them a good watering. Water transports the soil nutrients to the root zone and to all the critters in the soil that assist in making those nutrients available.

Besides, roses have a drinking problem: they like a big, long gulp, not little sips. In fact, it is better to water generously a couple times per week than to water a little every day.

If you water as recommended here, it encourages roots to grow deeper and that helps make your plants more drought-tolerant.

When you apply fertilizer, I hope you will use organics and avoid any product with the word “systemic” on its label; these contain pesticides or fungicides that can wipe out your soil critters, creating a wasteland all around the roots – and that actually makes your plants more susceptible to pests and diseases in the long run, so you use the product at a higher rate as time passes.

Organic fertilizers have the opposite effect: they keep improving the soil structure and the diversity of fungi, bacteria, worms and the like so the soil can provide a more constant supply of mineral nutrients; eventually you use less product.

If you haven’t ever applied a dressing of mulch, please do it as soon as you can before the weather turns hot and dry.

I highly recommend composted mulch applied to a depth of three to four inches. Be careful to keep the mulch a couple of inches away from each plant’s base and wherever canes emerge from the ground.

If you’ve applied composted mulch in the past, an application of one to two inches annually is recommended. The mulch will even out the moisture and temperature of the soil, cushioning your plants from shocks, reduce evaporation conserve water and it will provide a bit of nutrients as it breaks down.

Non-composted mulches, such as bark or wood chips, actually steal nitrogen from the soil as they break down.

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