Tips for Growing Bare-Root Roses!


How to grow bare-root roses!! Bare-root roses (those that are dug up from the nursery’s fields during dormancy and come without soil around their roots) from November onwards and can be planted throughout the winter until April. Choose an open, sunny position and prepare the soil by digging in lots of well-rotted manure or compost to a depth of at least 40cm. Dig a large hole and work a handful of bonemeal, chick pellets, or seaweed based product fertiliser into its base, available here at eplantsireland.com : https://eplantsireland.com/products/10-kg-granular-seaweed-fertiliser sold in 600g bags which will do 2 roses. Before planting, soak the roots of the rose in a bucket of water for 24 hours. Add some Root Booster product to the water. Available here at the nursery: https://eplantsireland.com/products/bare-root-booster-fertiliser The majority of roses are grafted onto a specially chosen rootstock. When planting, make sure the graft union (the join between the rose and its rootstock) is 5-7cm below soil level. This helps stop the rootstock putting out vigorous shoots (suckers). The graft union is easily spotted – it’s the bulge at the bottom of the shoots. Firm the rose in with your heel to get rid of any air pockets in the planting hole and water in well. Then prune the shoots of bush roses hard back to about 20cm (8in). Growing: Water newly planted roses thoroughly, especially during dry spells. Small applications of water encourage rose roots to come to the surface, so give them a good watering can-full each time you water. Once roses are growing, feeding and mulching will help ensure their best performance. All roses appreciate fertile soil, especially those that repeat flower, so in addition to initial soil preparation, you should spread a thick layer of well-rotted manure or compost around the base of the bushes in spring every year. Work a specialist granular rose fertiliser into the soil around the bottom of the plants at the same time, repeating in mid-summer. A healthy, established rose can get by on relatively little water, but in very hot spells, a good soaking will help. Give roses a liquid feed every 2 weeks when flowering, https://eplantsireland.com/products/rose-liquid-fertiliser a seaweed fertiliser sold here is excellent and a little goes a long way. Keep summer displays looking good by regularly removing the old, dead blooms. With once-flowering roses, don’t deadhead if you want autumn hips.