How to plant roses is a task. . . 

. . which every flower gardener can quickly learn.  Follow this step-by-step outline, and you'll have lovely roses growing in no time.

How To Plant Roses

© Marcelle Snyder

Although planting roses is done in early spring, I’ve planted bare root roses in late November before the ground had frozen, and they thrived beautifully

Where to plant
The plot for rose gardening should be protected from cold winds and should get minimum 6 hours of sunlight a day.  A deep rich loam is usually the best soil for rose flower gardening.  But hybrid roses will grow in sandy and gravelly soil. Any soil must be well drained.  Roses do not grow well in wet ground, and sometimes they need artificial drainage.

Roses can be bought bare root or planted in a container.  If you buy a bare root plant, see that the wind does not dry out the roots. If necessary, cover them with burlap or similar material, and keep them damp (not wet) or plant right away.

How to plant a bare root rose

1.  If using rotted manure from a farm, premix the flower gardening soil a few weeks before planting so that about one third of its bulk is rotted manure to a depth of two feet.  Mix well, for the rose roots should not touch the fresh manure.

2.  The hole should be deep enough to let the roots point downward and slant outward.  They must not lie flat.  Note the location of the graft on your rose stem and plant deep enough so that the grafted area is just below surface level.

3.  Arrange the plants so that the flower gardening beds are easy to water and weed.  A good rule is to have the flower gardening beds not over five feet wide.  Roses should be from ten inches to two and a half feet apart depending on their spreading habits. (Read information that comes with your rose).

Transplanting a potted rose

1. BEFORE transplanting your rose, thoroughly water the potted plant and allow it to drain to prevent the soil from easily falling away from the root system.

2.  Dig a hole about 4 to 6 inches deeper than your container and minimum 2 inches wider all around.

3.  Premix your gardening soil (1/3 of each: soil, manure, & compost).  Then throw some of this mixture into the bottom of the hole.

4.  In a 4 or 5 liter bucket, premix a transplanting liquid according to directions.  Pour some of it into the hole and let it sink in.  If the water does not slowly sink away, your soil is not porous enough and your rose will get "wet feet".  (Determine Your Soil Drainage, and do make your soil more porous).

5.  Carefully tip the pot, grab the rose stem, and gently pull the rose out of the container.

6.  Place your rose in the hole so that the grafted part is just below the ground surface level.  Add soil under the plant if necessary.

7.  Using the soil mixture, fill in around your rose about half way up to the graft.  With your hands,  firmly tamp the soil to remove air pockets around your plant's roots.  Thoroughly wet this new soil with the transplanting liquid mixture.

8.  Keep adding soil up to the graft and tamp often.  Then use the rest of the premixed transplanting liquid to wet the soil around your newly planted rose bush.

9.  Since oxygen is just as important as proper watering, keep the soil loose and the weeds out with a hoe or a sharp steel rake.  Avoid cultivating deeply.

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About the Author:
Marcie grew up on a farm in New Brunswick where the norm was to plant and grow large gardens. After moving to Ontario, she continued with backyard gardening. To read other gardening articles please go to http://superorganicgardeningtips.com, http://plantsandgardeningtips.com, and http://pestcontroloptions.com