Just finished mulching and feeding my roses with Empathy After Plant rose food — trying it for the first time, it’s supposed to have mycorrhizal fungi, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, alfalfa and seaweed meal... smells quite yeasty! I forgot to shake the package before using it though.
Planted my unnamed pink rose today - supposed to be an Old English shrub rose so it will be interesting to see what it looks like. Lost my balance digging the hole and toppled over backwards,fortunately onto the lawn! Looks very healthy but rather wish I'd got a named one after all. I've named it myself after my sister. .
I agree Malorena I prefer using organic feeds in the garden , some reckon the miracle gro pellets can effect the micro-organisms and others in the soil, whether its true are not I am not sure . I use the Miracle gro for pots .
I got a pot today for Desdemona when it arrives its about 40+cm high by 50cm wide. . I'll be cursing buying that shape of pot when I want to replant the rose.
DA has 15% off with the code HARLOW till 20th April. Did not order as they dint have what I was after, plus I kinda ran out off space.
@Perki Do you have all of your roses in terracotta pots? I have felt its comfortable maintaining them in terms of watering in terracotta rather than plastic ones, as I feel the roses will be left it moist soil for long in plastic containers. I did see someone post pics of roses in plastic containers, wondering if they water as per DA suggestion, i.e every other day in hot summers.
@Perki I've dealt in the past with repotting a plant in a pot like that by sawing around the perimeter with an old pruning saw.This works well for a pot-bound shrub, not sure how it would work with roses, but it's the first solution I go for with pots like that.
@cooldoc2000 I don't have to rely on watering everyday because where I am from it rains a lot to much . I am only going to grow one rose permanently in this pot the others are in the garden , I think I will line the pot with a old compost bag just for some extra protection against it getting to dry. I may plant it out eventually once I decide the front lawn is defiantly a goner.
I had a fight with a agapanthus a couple of weeks ago @micearguers had to do something similar, had to cut it out of its pot push it out from beneath with an iron bar. I don't think I'll be able to throw this pot around as much when its full and a rose trying to take my eye out.
@cooldoc2000 I use plastic pots and water every 2-3 days (on very hot days). Small roses need water less often than big roses (the loss of moisture is more evaporation through the leaves of the rose than the soil in the pot drying out on its own). Terracotta pots dry out much more quickly because with them both evaporation through the rose and through the pot is significant. Roses don't mind at all sitting in most soil, as long as it is reasonably airy and draining well and not boggy. In fact, they love it. If you get the drainage right, you can't overwater a rose. It can rain every day for weeks and there won't be any problem with the rose having too much water.
I was very lax in summer with watering pots - I only watered my potted Desdemona if it was very hot and no more than twice a week. But it’s in such a huge pot and if it were in a smaller one with less soil to hold water obviously I would have had to water more frequently.
Pots different of course, will always need more maintenance but: Im generally trying to force plants in my garden to be drought tolerant by treating them mean and only watering when it’s been exceptionally dry for more than a week.
I saw a section during a Gardeners’ World program when they were discussing this with the head gardener of somewhere where they’d been doing the same thing. Explaining how it forces the plant to build a further reaching and deeper root system making them much better able to survive in tough dry conditions.
Even starting from the seedling stage and being meaner with the watering.
I’ve never done this constant watering of new roses that I’ve seen suggested in DA handbook and other places, but they’re all doing well.
I only have room for a small water butt, so I save that for the pots and let the garden fend for itself mostly.
Tougher plants and saves on water. Double win.
We actually are going to run out of water using it at current rates.
It makes me wince a bit the thought of all the water wasted by people living in practically desert areas of California and Texas using gallons of water an hour to sustain their cottage style gardens. Garden for your climate.
Argh, and people that use sprinklers instead of targeted watering 😬
Even I would prefer a rose on the ground. Since I don't own the house I am staying currently, I cannot do that bit. Hopefully sometime in the future, all these roses will go to the ground and I can be worry free about watering them.
@Mr. Vine Eye I do similarly to you, I only water mine when its sustained scorching or they are droopy. Hellebore seem to be good indicators, mine droop, i water the roses in that bed! Watched a garden program recently the expert plant scientist was saying its better under than over watered and its good for them to be a bit stressed sometimes. I put watergel in my pots of summer bedding etc that stuffs marvelous, halves the amount of watering needed and makes the most of the rain. Sprinklers drive me mad, I pass a house in summer every year with one out the front, half on the pavement soaking it then spraying the wall and the top of a few plants and a bit of lawn. So wasteful.
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I got a pot today for Desdemona when it arrives its about 40+cm high by 50cm wide. . I'll be cursing buying that shape of pot when I want to replant the rose.
I had a fight with a agapanthus a couple of weeks ago @micearguers had to do something similar, had to cut it out of its pot push it out from beneath with an iron bar. I don't think I'll be able to throw this pot around as much when its full and a rose trying to take my eye out.
Pots different of course, will always need more maintenance but: Im generally trying to force plants in my garden to be drought tolerant by treating them mean and only watering when it’s been exceptionally dry for more than a week.
I saw a section during a Gardeners’ World program when they were discussing this with the head gardener of somewhere where they’d been doing the same thing. Explaining how it forces the plant to build a further reaching and deeper root system making them much better able to survive in tough dry conditions.
Even starting from the seedling stage and being meaner with the watering.
I’ve never done this constant watering of new roses that I’ve seen suggested in DA handbook and other places, but they’re all doing well.
I only have room for a small water butt, so I save that for the pots and let the garden fend for itself mostly.
Tougher plants and saves on water. Double win.
Argh, and people that use sprinklers instead of targeted watering 😬
🤐
I put watergel in my pots of summer bedding etc that stuffs marvelous, halves the amount of watering needed and makes the most of the rain.
Sprinklers drive me mad, I pass a house in summer every year with one out the front, half on the pavement soaking it then spraying the wall and the top of a few plants and a bit of lawn. So wasteful.