Roses are wonderful plants. By multiplying the varieties of roses, we take advantage of spring until frost with their multiple flowers of breathtaking beauty, available in a wide range of colors, and with a bewitching fragrance. Standard rose, bushy, climbing, mini-rose… there are roses for large and small spaces. In addition, roses are very easy to maintain and like everywhere. They are real all-rounders that can even be grown in containers. However, they must be planted at the right time, depending on their conditioning, and respect the appropriate planting method. Let’s take a closer look.
When to plant roses?
You can buy roses for planting that have been conditioned in different ways, and this determines the best time to plant them. Here are the ideal periods and those during which the planting of roses is still possible.
- Plant a rose in a container : ideally from September to June but possibly throughout the year apart from periods of frost or strong heat.
- Plant a rose bush : ideally from November to April except during periods of frost ; possibly from October 15 and until the end of the first half of May. Avoid planting when late frosts are announced.
- Plant a bare root rose : ideally during the first two months of autumn ; possibly until April/May, except January. In any case, only if it does not freeze.
We note that the planting period is quite wide, but it is of course necessary to assess the ideal time to plant roses according to the region where you live, and therefore the climate. For example, in April there may still be snow or frost quite severely while at the same time in another region the weather already allows you to wear flip-flops and a straw hat… So it’s always with common sense that you have to set the date for planting your roses, and therefore the best time to buy them.
How to plant your roses?
To allow roses to take root and develop as well as possible, it is necessary to take care of their planting by respecting the following points:
- The preparation of the soil, which includes its amendment,
- The method of planting.
Preparing the land for planting roses
It is two to three weeks, even a month before planting that the gardener must prepare the land intended to receive the roses he has planned to buy. This soil preparation requires:
- Careful weeding without chemicals,
- Fertilization using organic matter such as well-decomposed manure or compost that is spread over the area that is to host the roses,
- Deep digging, i.e. 50 to 60 cm in order to properly loosen and D’ventilate Earth. We use it to:
- Bury organic manure which must be perfectly mixed with earth so that it is not in direct contact with the root system of the roses when they are planted, fertilizers of all kinds can burn the roots.
- To remove pierrailles and large stones.
- Remove the weed roots emphasizing the most recalcitrant.
- Raking carefully to level the ground well and that the place reserved for future roses is immaculate. When the time comes, all you have to do is dig the planting holes with the appropriate dimensions.
Once the soil has been well worked and amended, wait at least 15 to 20 days before planting roses. This is a step that you should not try to avoid because it is crucial. The more the gardener takes care to work his soil deep enough and then to fertilize it, the more he increases the chances of recovery of his roses and promotes their development.
Technique for planting roses according to their conditioning
You can buy roses in garden centers, or order them from many producers in order to have them delivered to your home. Note that if one of them is intended for replace for whatever reason it is a rose bush already in place, the bad idea is to plant it in the same place after uprooting the first one. Better to prepare a place for him elsewhere.
However, this exchange remains possible on the exclusive condition of eliminating all the soil after having uprooted the subject to be replaced. It is necessary to dig very deeply over 70 to 80 cm, completely empty the hole and fill it with a new land furniture, airy so well worked beforehand but also amended. This preparation must be carried out at least one month before planting a rosebush in place of another.
Now let’s go to the preparing roses for planting depending on whether they are in a container, in a root ball or with bare roots.
Method of planting a container rose
This is a rose marketed in a plastic jar of a capacity 2, 3 or even 5 liters. It does not require no special preparation at the level of its roots and can be planted in any season, apart from periods of frost, strong heat or drought of course. But even to plant a rose in a container, we strongly recommend preparing the soil about 3 weeks in advance.
On the day of planting, place the rosebush with its container in a large container of water for about 60 minutes so that the substrate is saturated. Then just take the subject out of the pot (which is easier) and plant it in the intended location. The top of the root ball should be flush with ground level. It remains to fill in the hole, pack the soil all around to form a basin and water very copiously. In February-March, pruning can be carried out to reduce its branches by up to 40% of their length.
Method of planting a rose bush in a plug
It is a rosebush whose roots are swaddled with a peat clod usually held by a biodegradable fine mesh that need not be removed. The root ball rose is ready to be planted, which makes life easier for the gardener. Moreover, we can see that paraffin is at the end of the branches since they have already been pruned before marketing. This red wax seal is nothing but a protection for pruning wounds against bacteria, also preventing rain or irrigation water from penetrating the tissues and limiting the risk of drying out freshly cut branches. . No attempt should be made to remove the paraffin. It will naturally disappear over time.
Before planting, it is important tosubmerge base of this rosebush in a basin of water for 45 to 60 minutes in order to rehydrate the substrate well. As soon as the root ball is saturated with water, the rosebush can be installed in the location that we took care to prepare a few weeks before, its grafting point at ground level. A generous watering is needed once the soil has been packed so as to form a basin. Hilling is welcome in regions with harsh winters. It can be removed in the spring.
Method of planting a bare root rose bush
It is also called rosebush without clod. As soon as it is purchased, it must be planted, but just before, the gardener must dress the roots and then pralinate them, two essential steps for bare-root plants.
Then all that remains is to open the hole where the soil was prepared some time before in order to extract the good amended soil, and to position the rose bush so that its grafting point is at ground level. To fill the hole, the earth must be partly positioned by hand on the root system so that it fits perfectly between the roots. For this, it may be necessary to crumble it. The voids are then filled in and, when the hole is filled, the earth is moderately compacted to form a basin.
As soon as the bare-root rose bush is planted, it is essential to carry out copious watering. The earth must be saturated. And as it is autumn, it is essential to take precautions so that the rosebush does not suffer from extreme cold. The gardener can carry out a hilling by bringing earth on the branches. This protection must be removed during Februarya crucial moment to carry out a severe pruning of the young rosebush so that the branches once pruned do not measure more than 7 or 8 cm. There will be fewer buds but it is very useful to increase the vigor of the rosebush.
Whatever its conditioning, the rosebush must benefit fromsufficient watering during the first year after planting, especially if it takes place in spring or summer. But the gardener must always take the weather conditions into account because generous watering followed by a strong frost is not what is best for the new roses in the garden…