Rose Gardening at All Levels: Expert Tips for Healthy, Long-Lasting Blooms

Exuding timeless elegance and beauty, many floral enthusiasts consider roses a must-have in their gardens. While they have a reputation for being high-maintenance, anybody can grow them successfully with the right guidance. This blog will provide expert tips for beginner, intermediate, and advanced rose gardeners.

Tips for Beginner Rose Gardeners

If you’re just starting out on your rose gardening journey, you may be feeling overwhelmed by the vast amount of information out there. Don’t worry – you don’t need to know everything right away. Start small with these few pieces of simple yet useful advice. 

Choosing the Right Roses

With all the beautiful varieties of roses available, it’s not always easy to select your first one. Narrow it down by considering the following:

• Disease-resistant varieties: While impressively hardy, roses can be susceptible to diseases. With April & Ashley, you can find a wide variety of gorgeous rose starters – which are particularly resilient and require minimal care. 

• Climate & sunlight needs: Before choosing your rose, consider your hardiness zone to determine which varieties grow best where you live. Always remember that roses are sun worshippers – requiring 6-8 hours per day.

Planting Basics

In order for a rose to flourish to its fullest potential, you’ll need to set up a comfortable environment with favorable conditions. Start with the basics:

• Well-draining soil: Roses love a good drink of water, but they don’t want to be standing in it. Prevent ‘wet feet’ and root rot by planting in a spot with sandy or loamy soil.
  Pro tip: Test the drainage of your soil by digging a 1-foot-deep, 1-foot-wide hole and filling it with water. If the water drains less than 1 inch per hour, you’ll want to find a different planting location. 

• Adequate sunlight: Find a location in your garden that gets 6-8 hours of sunlight per day. 

• Proper spacing: How far apart to plant your roses from each other varies by variety – but a good rule of thumb is about 2-3 feet apart. This will allow for proper airflow and reduce the risk of disease. 

Watering & Feeding

Just like us humans, roses need to stay hydrated and absorb the right nutrients to grow healthily and happily. Here are our top tips for watering and fertilizing your roses:

• Water deeply and infrequently: We recommend 2-3 times & 3-5 gallons per week as a rule of thumb.

• Use a balanced slow-release fertilizer: This supplies a steady flow of nutrients to your roses without causing them stress. 

• Water early in the morning: This allows the roots to absorb the water before the arrival of the midday heat.

• Water at the base of the plant: This prevents excess moisture on the foliage and reduces the risk of fungal infection.
  

Simple Pruning Techniques

Every so often, us humans need a light haircut to allow for new, healthy growth. The same goes for roses! Don’t be intimidated – once you cut out the dead, diseased and damaged wood, your rose will thank you with stronger canes and better blooms. Here are our top tips for effective pruning:

• Prune in early spring or late winter: Pruning your rose while it’s still in winter dormancy will stimulate growth for the coming season and avoid damage the following winter. 

• Cut out dead, dying or disease canes: This removes any obstacles standing in the way of your rose’s beautiful blooms.

• Cut at a 45-degree angle above outward-facing buds: This prevents moisture from pooling on the stems and encourages growth away from the center of the rose – creating more visual appeal. 

• Take out thin, spindly branches: These are too weak to support blooms and serve no purpose to your rose’s healthy growth.

Tips for Intermediate Rose Gardeners

After you’ve gained a bit of experience planting and caring for roses, fine tune your new skillset and try different techniques to increase visual appeal and boost plant health.

• Expand your rose collection: Experiment with different varieties – such as climbing or rambling roses. Consider fragrance, color, and blooming period. 

• Improve soil health: Amend your soil with compost or aged manure to give your roses a nutrient boost. 

• Pest & disease control: Use organic pesticide treatments such as neem oil or insecticidal soap to get rid of unwanted critters. Remove fallen leaves surrounding your roses to prevent the spread of fungal infection.

• Advanced pruning & training: After you’ve learned how to prune for healthy growth, you can learn shape-enhancing methods for even greater visual appeal. You can also learn how to train climbing roses using trellises or arbors.

Tips for Advanced Rose Gardeners

After you’ve mastered the rose gardening basics, the fun doesn’t end there. Try your hand at propagating roses with cuttings, companion planting, and show off your skills with the best of the best! Here are our top tips for rose connoisseurs:

• Rose propagation: Once you’ve grown a healthy rose, you can produce more of the same type by propagating with cuttings. It’s a great way to expand your rose collection and save money at the same time.
• Companion planting: Naturally ward off pests and aesthetically enhance your garden with companion plants – such as lavender, catmint, and many more. 
• Participating in rose shows/societies: You’ve worked hard to grow beautiful, healthy roses. Consider joining a local rose society to show them off and learn from other rose enthusiasts at the same time.

Ready to Get Started?

Rose gardening is both an art and science. With the proper love, care and a little bit of patience, anyone can grow beautiful, long-lasting roses. Don’t try to be an expert right away — start small and grow your skills over time. No matter how long it takes, you’ll look back at where you started and be proud of your progress. Visit April & Ashley to browse our collection of premium rose bushes with varieties suitable for every skill level.