Ordered DA bare root roses - advice needed please
Hi all, I’m hoping all you lovely people can help me.
I have finally gotten around to ordering some bare root roses from David Austin, and want to be prepared for when they arrive.
I have ordered the following roses:
The Pilgrim - Climbing Rose
Gertrude Jekyll - Shrub Rose
Lady of Shalott - Shrub Rose
Munstead Wood - Shrub Rose
Roald Dahl - Shrub Rose
I would like to grow them all in pots.
The Pilgrim and Lady of Shalott I would like to grow as climbers up two different walls. The Pilgrim will be on an east facing wall and the Lady of Shalott on a South facing wall.
My garden is east facing, so both walls would get mostly morning and afternoon sun.
Can you help with the following questions please.
What size and shape container should I plant them in?
Would smallish containers (approx 35cm x 35cm) be ok to begin with, with the aim to repot them once they’re a bit more established?
And does it matter much if they are in plastic pots as opposed to terracotta pots?
What type of soil should I use? Rose, shrub & tree soil or John Innes No3? As the two soils are quite different.
Should I mix in any organic matter with the soil, such as organic farmyard manure?
Should I add any fertiliser after planting them?
What is best for mulching? Stones or bark?
Thanks in advance.
Posts
When your roses arrive you need to put them in a big bucket of water to soak to hydrate the roots. Then you can trim them back a bit to neaten them and remove any broken bits. They then need to be spread out in the compost in the pots and the graft union needs to be an inch or so below the compost as this encourages the rose to make its own roots and helps stop the stock root from suckering.
I think you need 60cm pots and John Innes no 3 type compost perhaps mixed with up to a third multi-purpose compost. Even so, there will only be food in there for a max 90 days so I would also add some pelleted chicken manure or blood, fish and bone to the compost mix as roses are hungry, thirsty plants. Water them in well but make sure they can drain too.
You will need to feed them a generous dollop of slow release fertiliser every spring with regular liquid feeds of rose or tomato food from spring thru to July and regular watering as they will be entirely dependent upon you. Rain on its own won't be enough.
But if you want them in pots permanently, there is no reason to start with smaller pots and repot to bigger ones.
Plastic or terracotta doesn't matter. Terracotta can dry out quickly unless glazed. You could also get whisky half-barrels, they are a good size for most shrub roses. Just get whatever you like, same for the mulch.
To plant, both Rose, shrub & tree soil or John Innes No3 is fine. You want a loam-based compost, something that won't decompose considerably in a year or two. I like to use a mix of topsoil, multipurpose compost, garden soil and composted manure.
Don't add fertiliser when planting, give the roses some time to establish. You can start to feed when roses grow a bit with half-strength liquid fertiliser or some slow-release fertiliser. The compost (and composted manure if you use it) will give them enough nutrients for the start.
Thank you both for your replies Obelixx and edhelka. They are most helpful.
My thoughts for planting in small pots to begin with is, for some reason I was thinking it would be better for the plant to start off in a smaller pot and then get potted into larger pots as the plant gets bigger. So I take it that’s not a good idea then!
I would prefer to plant it straight into its permanent pot. I do have about 2/3 already, they’re 50cm wide and about 45cm deep.
I have seen some half barrel pots, but these are very wide (about 60cm) but not as deep (40cm). Is it better to go for pots that are deeper?
Obelixx - Did you mean I should trim the roots a little bit, and not the stems? First time I read it, I took it as the stems. Reading it again, I now think I you mean trim the roots.
Re 60cm pots - is that 60cm wide or 60cm deep?
I currently have the following available: Gro-Sure Farmyard Manure
Miracle Gro All Purpose Enriched Compost
Rose, Shrub & Tree Compost
John Innes No3 Soil
Which of the above would you advise I use and what ratio?
I find the John Innes No3 quite a heavy soil compared to the Rose, Shrub & Tree soil which is very loose and light in comparison. Could I mix the two, say 50/50, and add some manure also?
I was contemplating removing a patio slab in order to plant the Pilgrim into the ground, so it could grow up against the house wall. But I have horsetail in my garden and I hate the thought of it growing in this area and then gaining strength to then start growing through the rest of the patio, so then decided against planting in the ground.
I would possibly like to transplant Munstead Wood, Roald Dahl and Gertrude Jekyll into the ground, maybe after 2 years once they’ve grown a bit. So didn’t want to get too large pots for the first two years if they didn’t need it.
Your rose plant looks stunning with its bloom and also very healthy. Which rose is this?
Good luck!