Usually I am a pretty disciplined gardener. This year I am taking a break because my 11 year old bulldog needs me more than ever.
I plan my rose pruning for our local rose show. Pruning of roses is followed by a a strict spray and fertilizer schedule. First I cut back not to hard all the spindly rose stems, and remove all the old leaves and get rid of them (compost or through out in the greens barrel).
Then I dormant spray all the naked stems. This stuff is way gross. I really hate mixing it up, but it helps so so much. Then i clean up all my beds really well.
Mulch and compost are the next to go down. I am lucky to work at Starbucks because I bring home super heavy bags of coffee grounds. I throw the grounds straight onto the ground.
My organic fertilizer goes down next. In the past I have used biosol, mills magic, john and bobs. Roses are not that picky, as long as they eat they will be happy. Then I top off with the compost. This will be whatever is on sale and has the most kinds of poop in it... It all depends on what I have time for. It usually means a trip to home depot and the big bag of Kellogg's.
Then I take a break for a few weeks.
I will post my spray schedule next,
and then my fertilizer schedule following.
2 comments:
Thanks for this informative post. I know absolutely zero about caring for roses and we have about 10 rose bushes in our yard. When they bloom I'm always amazed!
Thanks Janet. Do your roses get a lot of sun? That actually makes the biggest difference in my yard. My roses that get more shade bloom a lot less. I forgot to mention how crucial placement of a rose is. My neighbors trees are gettting huge and shading a few of my roses. the poor things hardly bloom now
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