Hello dear rose friends … let’s go straight into GRA’S GARBLE because he’s telling us what to do when planting new roses in your garden…
HERE ARE THE DO’S …
- Dig a really rough hole (with a fork so you don’t slice the worms … ouch!) at least 45 x 45cm (like about the length of your boot plus a bit)
- Place the soil into a wheelbarrow and blend at least two shovels full of well composted medium to your existing soil
- Put a bucket of water in the hole and let it soak in – you could add seaweed solution if you want
- Fork the base and side walls of the hole so that the newly formed roots can easily penetrate the soil
- Make a mound of soil and spread the roots of your new rose over that mound; backfill with the soil/compost blend
- Tamp around the main stem with your boot so that the rose is very firmly planted right up to the bud union then add another layer of light soil
- Soak the entire area with the hose then pour a watering can of seaweed solution over the plant and surrounding soil
- Place layer of lucerne/pea straw mulch for about a square metre over the soil around the rose
- Prune each stem down to 20-30cms in length then stand back and admire that you have given this new rose every possible goodness to get on with flowering!
This is the crown/bud union/scion … plant right up to where you see Virginia’s finger!
HERE ARE THE DON’TS …
- DO NOT put fertilizer of any description in the planting hole as it might burn the newly forming roots
- DO NOT dig a perfectly square hole – rough walls allow roots and water to easily penetrate even heavy clay soils
- DO NOT OVERWATER – if you soaked the soil to an absolute slurry at planting then watered over with seaweed solution, the rose should not require much water until shoots start to appear and even then, check soil moisture before watering no less than 20 litres per rose, per week – at each watering – deep soaking to root zone!
Q. What do you call a skeleton that doesn’t get out of bed? A. (Easy peasy) LAZY BONES!
WEEDS FOR FERTILIZER …
Yes, put all your garden weeds into a hessian bag (except the creepy-crawlies like couch grass just to be on the safe side!) and dunk the bag into a wheelie bin or other 30-40 litre receptacle with a lid – place in a sunny location away from the house! It might stink!!! Leave the bag soaking for at least three weeks.
Put 2-3 litres of brew into a watering can then fill it with water and pour liberally over garden beds and plants at least once a month – you could add seaweed powder/solution.
Since worms are in their breeding season from May to October, they will love this liquid feed; soil microbes will be increased and residual fertilizer is made readily available to plant roots by this application.
Grab a copy of a MOON PLANTING GUIDE which will indicate when is the most effective time to remove weeds from your garden and then use the weeds to productively increase the micro-culture of your soil – your roses and veggies will grow superbly!!!
Q. Why did the skeleton run up a tree? A. Because the dog wanted his bones
This Sunday morning I’ll be on 3CR radio (855 AM band Melbourne) from around 8.00 and I would be pleased to take a call from you (03) 9419 8377 or (03) 9419 0155 then come along to a pruning demo in the afternoon at 2.00pm SUNDAY 14TH JUNE at SILKIES ROSE FARM.
There will be pruning demonstrations here at the Rose Farm continually through June/July and August – stay posted for a date in every edition of this R/R – see you soon … Gra
IN THE ROSE NURSERY …
Thank you all for purchasing our stunning quality bare-rooted roses – please prune all the roses we are sending to you … they look like this when they arrive (we’re just bragging by selling them so BIG)
We urge you to prune them to 20-30cms stems when you plant them so they look like this which is what we do when we pot them:
No secrets anymore, we’ve started pruning … I suppose on the one hand you might say: “if we don’t start now, how do we ever get the job done with such a lot of roses to prune?” but there’s also the variables of the weather to contend with – if we prune late, the new shoots may be damaged by severe October/November frost – there might be early frosts and we could be caught out … what the heck, we’re both ‘head down, bum up’ at every opportunity – come and watch us … and select some of the most amazingly beautiful bare-rooted roses while you’re here …
~ See you soon at Clonbinane … Diana, Graham & Mooi
