Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Watering........Rose's

Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
in Problem solving
I'm slightly confused re the watering of plants, shrubs, trees........I thought that those planted in the ground were to be only watered if there's a long spell of dry weather, unless newly planted,  the reason being that the plants will find their own water source somewhere deep below the earth.   Yet advice seems to be to water Rose's deeply and regularly........
Also, if it is the case that large shrubs and young trees roots have gone deep to find water, is it a waste of time watering them?
What water source do they find down there?
Thanks......
«1

Posts

  • BernieEarnie13BernieEarnie13 Posts: 36
    Hi there! We moved into a house last year with a number of well established rose bushes and a lovely big rose tree. I've never watered them - even in a long dry spell. They flowered last year and I have spotted new buds on them already this year. Hope this helps. 
  • Mr. Vine EyeMr. Vine Eye Posts: 2,394
    From my understanding overwatering makes plants weak.

    To make them hardier or more likely to survive in dry conditions then you only water them during prolonged dry periods, unless as you say they’re new because they need a bit more of a helping hand. You should water deeply say once a week rather than a little every day.

    Last year I only watered a few times in the whole year, apart from watering in on planting. 

    Treating them mean forces plants to seek out moisture, so there roots go wider and deeper. Ultimately they don’t become dependent on human intervention to keep them alive - unless it’s freakishly dry like it was last April and again this April here.

    Obviously if you’re growing plants that need specific conditions (like bog plants) are you’re growing them in a place that’s not somewhere they’d naturally grow then they’ll need more attention.
    East Yorkshire
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    When it rains, the soil gets saturated with moisture (it holds water, some soils can hold more, some less). During dry spells, water evaporates from the surface and is also used by plants and evaporates through their leaves.
    Two or three days without rain and the top layer of soil gets dry. A week without rain, maybe 10cm gets dry, endangering plants with very shallow roots or newly planted small plants. Two or three weeks, the soil is dry maybe 20 or 30cm deep, the situation is getting dangerous for many annuals or perennials unless they have a long taproot or some kind of water-saving trick (like thick leaves, tubers etc.). Plants are water-stressed and try to grow deeper roots to get to the water. Established trees and shrubs are usually fine because they have much deeper roots.
    When we water the garden, we reset this (assuming we water it enough, as rain would... which we usually don't). It's good to stress plants a bit to force them to grow deeper roots but not too much because it would make them weaker. That's why deep watering less often is recommended over daily shallow watering.
    Roses have deep roots and are usually fine without additional watering. But if you water them, they will bloom more and they will be more disease resistant.
    I would say it's a fine balancing act. To force plants to become more independent for their own good without neglecting them. I do water roses, they get spoilt :) but not shrubs and trees. With the exception of specific plants at specific times of the year - for example camellias in August, when they set buds.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited April 2020
    I water new trees  and roses for the first two or three years, during the summer.  Having said that, David Austin says "you can't overwater a rose". Their site says to water established roses once a week through the summer.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Long, dry spell in Ireland . Now there's a thing!
    I give my mature roses one good long soak rather than a squirt every day.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • OmoriOmori Posts: 1,674
    When the weather turns dry I water my roses deeply once a week (I’ve already started), but my situation may be different than some as I have conifers to contend with. 
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Even in a small country like the UK conditions vary very much. I think you need to factor in your own conditions as well as the plant's natural needs. During the summers of 18 and 19 we had almost no rain for weeks and weeks down here. When there was rain, it would come in one brief, heavy burst, running off the baked earth. When the drought broke, it took weeks for moisture to penetrate, and even now, I am seeing the long term damage to mature shrubs and trees. Many perennials just gave up and died, annuals never even got going.
  • stuarta99stuarta99 Posts: 235
    I was just going to come on and ask the same question. In the past I've not watered my rose bushes much but they never seem to flower for long, or at least not as long as our neighbors.

    David Austin website says once a week but then I found another site that said waternwater ones daily and established oneseones other day if it's extreme heat.

    Obviously we have a hot period at the moment and my front garden is in full sun all day long so I'm wondering how often I should water and for how long?

    Many thanks
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    33C here today and for days we've had a constant, drying east to north easterly wind adding to the drying out effect.   I have a new rose garden in progress and planted up 8 new roses on Sunday and Monday.   They were well watered in and have all had a mulch of well-rotted horse poo and another good drink on Tuesday night. 

    This evening I spotted that 2 were looking a bit sorry for themselves so, as I plan to lay out some ground cover geraniums and other perennials in the next few days and need to work the soil first I have had the sprinkler on it for an hour.  I'm hoping that it will sink in enough to make the soil hoe-able, forkable and hospitable for the new plants.

    When I bought the 4 newest roses last Saturday, the nursery owner advised me to water, water, water for their first year and then in any dry spells in following years to keep them healthy and flowering.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    @stuarta99 It's hard, almost impossible, to overwater a rose in the ground (you would have to have a serious drainage problem to do that. So in theory, you can water it a lot and be safe but we usually want to balance our time, water bills and the happiness of the rose.
    The rose will most probably survive without any watering (if established) or with barely any. It will do better with some watering.
    Nobody can tell you how much is enough, it depends on your soil, the position of the rose and your local climate. You can try to water one day and then dig down (or use your finger) a couple of days later to see how deep is the soil still wet. If it is wet, you don't need to water.
    Here, the soil stays moist for quite a long time (but I mulch which helps a lot). I water once per week now but I think it is more than they need.
Sign In or Register to comment.