There is something almost spiritual about rose gardens. From their heady fragrance to their delicate blooms, walking through a rose garden is a tranquil experience. Growing a rose garden isn’t hard, yet many gardeners complain that their roses are never as beautiful as they would like them to be.  If you struggle to grow roses, follow these easy steps and your rose gardens will be the envy of your neighborhood.

Roses Are Heavy Feeders

Roses like to be fed. They should be fed consistently. The best way to feed your roses is to sit down in the winter with a calendar and write out a feeding schedule for your rose garden. Once you have established your feeding schedule, stick to it. It doesn’t do your roses much good to feed them sporadically. Some people like to use a slow release fertilizer, but roses truly do best when a strong organic fertilizer is applied routinely.

Some great fertilizers for your rose gardens include composted manure and blood meal. Roses love a high nitrogen feed, so if you make your own compost, make sure you add lots of grass clippings to really add nitrogen to your soil.

Roses Get Thirsty

Roses require about two inches of water a week. If you don’t get that kind of rainfall in your area, it is important to water them every few days. You can cut down on the amount of water you need to give them by hand if you are diligent about mulching your roses. Mulching is a wonderful way to keep the roots of your roses from stressing. It is also great for weed control. Weeds compete with your roses for vital nutrients and water, so when you mulch your rose gardens, you help your roses get the most from the soil that surrounds them.

The best mulch you can use is grass clippings or compost that contains many nitrogen rich grass clippings. When you mulch with grass clippings you are helping feed the soil that will feed your roses.

Roses Need To Be Pruned

It seems a travesty to cut back your roses, but in reality, when you prune your rose garden you are ensuring beautiful blooms for seasons to come. Always deadhead spent roses by cutting them back to their second set of leaves. This will allow for more blooms to come out in the current season.

Make sure that you give your roses a good pruning in the early part of spring. Cut away every piece of dead or diseased wood. Once you have removed the damaged wood, step back and shape your bush. Make sure you thin out the branches so that each one has room for air to circulate, keeping your roses free from mildew and rot.

If you are faithful about feeding, watering, and pruning your roses, your rose gardens will be healthy and give you many seasons of pleasure.

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