A rose garden adds beautiful color and aromatic fragrance to a yard.
The way you water your roses determines how they grow and bloom. If you want the most beautiful plants in your garden to give you the best displays of color and fragrance, you have to water them properly. Many people love their plants to death by overwatering, but the rose is one plant that absolutely loves water. Even though they enjoy water, they don't like standing in it. Finding the right balance ensures a healthy root system and bush. Does this Spark an idea?
Water and Soil
The way you water your roses depends on the type of soil you have in your area. Roses love well-draining soils. You may need to amend your soil if you have a clay soil that keeps the roots of the roses in water for long periods of time. Amend the soil before you plant your roses by adding perlite, vermiculite, sand or peat moss. The best water for roses is rain, and if you can set up some rain barrels beneath the down spouts of your rain gutters, you can collect it for use. Tap water is fine, but secondary water void of fluoride and chlorine is better.
Watering Tools
Set up a watering system that is convenient and effective for watering your rose bushes. If you don't have a lot of time to manually water your roses, consider a drip system or soaker hose that you can put on a timer. If you enjoy spending time in your rose garden and don't mind manual watering, use a water wand attached to a garden hose. A water wand can gently applies large amounts of water to specific areas of a rose bushes root system.
Amount and Depth
A roses roots grow 15 to 18 inches below ground. Deep waterings are required to fully saturate these large root masses. Plan on apply 1 to 2 inches of water per week during fall and spring, 2 to 3 inches during the summer months and 1 inch per month during the winter. You can increase or decrease these amounts depending on drought and rain conditions. If you don't water deeply enough, the roots will grow nearer the surface. Shallow roots systems are less drought tolerant than deep root systems.
Timing and Testing
Water in the morning hours between 6 and 8 a.m.. This ensures that any moisture on the leaves will have a chance to evaporate before nightfall. Wet leaves have a tendency to invite disease and fungal growth. Test the soil dryness by pushing your finger down an inch or two into it. If your finger is dry after the test, it's time to water. If your finger is damp, it isn't time yet. If the leaves are limp and sagging, the rose bush isn't getting enough water. If the leaves are turning yellow and falling off, the plant is getting too much water.
Mulch
Cover the soil around the stem of the rose bush with 2 to 3 inches of mulch. Keep the mulch away from the stem to avoid rotting it. The mulch will help feed the root system and keep the moisture from evaporating quickly. It will also keep the soil cool and control weeds. Less weed growth means more nutrition for your roses. You won't have to water as often when you use mulch in your rose garden.
Tags: your roses, water your, root system, rose garden, water your roses, your finger