Home › Outdoor Roses › Outdoor Roses (Excavate the beds to a depth)

Outdoor Roses (Excavate the beds to a depth)

Excavate the beds to a depth of 3 feet. Keep the dark top soil and the subsoil in separate piles. Loosen the bottom of the bed with the pick and put in a layer of some coarse material such as crushed stone or cinders to a depth of 6 inches, for drainage. Roses demand ample moisture, but they are equally intolerant of poorly drained, waterlogged soils, and plants grown under such conditions are more apt to winter kill and suffer during the winter months when growth is dormant. Therefore, unless the ground is unusually well drained naturally, this bottom layer of coarse material is necessary. Over this, place a layer of sod face downward, to keep the drainage open, then fill in the bed to within one foot of the surface with the clay subsoil removed when excavating, sod well broken up with the spade, and decomposed cow manure in equal parts. If the subsoil taken from the bed is very poor in quality or sandy in texture it will be necessary to obtain it elsewhere, perhaps from some neighboring field or pasture. The surface foot is composed of good top soil and enriched with leaf mold, rather than manure, which would damage the plants by rotting the roots if it came into direct contact with them. The leaf mold being rich in humus makes a black rich soil excellent for the little feeding roots that form near the surface. In making the bed care must be taken to mix the various [121] ingredients used in its composition very thoroughly. Fill in the bed with soil until it stands 2 or 3 inches above the level of the ground so that when settling takes place the bed will be from 1 to 2 inches below the surrounding sod. This is very important as it helps to retain the soil moisture and rainfall. More satisfactory results can be obtained by growing the hybrid perpetuals, teas, and hybrid teas, in separate beds as it is a well-known fact hybrid perpetuals and strong growing hybrid teas do better, if grown in stiff clayey soils, whereas, in beds prepared especially for the teas and most hybrid teas, an admixture of some sand is highly beneficial. Planting must be delayed for at least one or two weeks after the beds are completed to allow ample time for settling. Outdoor roses can be purchased either on their own roots or budded or grafted on to a strong growing stock. Eminent rosarians, as, for example, Dr. Robert Huey and Mr. George C. Thomas, Jr., recommend the use of budded, field grown, 2 or 3-year-old stock, rather than own root roses. Some varieties, however, such as hybrid wichurianas, have good roots of their own, but undoubtedly the best results from the weaker growers are secured by being budded on to the roots of some such strong specimens as the Japanese Multiflora, Manetti, Sweet Briar or Rugosa. The objection usually [122] raised against the use of budded roses is the fear of the growth from the stock overpowering the more slender growth of the budded variety. This objection is, however, readily overcome by a little care. It is easy to detect these wild shoots, as they bear 7 leaflets instead of the usual 5, they are a brighter green in color, and as in the case of Manetti stock the shoots are more thorny and are apt to appear to grow out of the ground apart from the plant. They should be removed at once with a pair of sharp pruning shears as close as possible to their point of junction with the stock.

PLANTING The process of planting is a very important one for the future success of the roses. The best planting season, in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, is from September to November and early in spring, except with pot-grown greenhouse plants which are tender and cannot be moved outdoors with safety until May, or when the weather becomes settled and warm. When planting is deferred until spring it is a good idea to prepare the beds the previous fall so that they will be ready for planting as soon as the proper season arrives. Spring planting in the case of teas is greatly to be preferred as the danger of fall-planted stock being winter killed is increased, especially with the tender [123] varieties. For hybrid perpetuals and hybrid teas fall planting if done early enough to enable the plants to become well rooted before freezing weather is excellent; in this way the plants are established by spring and ready to expend their energy in the production of flowers.

Late spring planting means late bloom, often deformed flower buds and short stems during the first summer.

Plant either in the late afternoon, or preferably on a cloudy day just before a rain. While the plants are out of the ground the roots must be carefully covered with moss, burlap bags, or anything that will protect them from the drying influence of the atmosphere.

Prepare a large hole, wide enough to enable the roots to be well distributed, and deep enough for the buds (or the point of union between the stock and the bud) to be 2 or 3 inches below the level of the bed.

The depth of planting is of great importance, as if it is deeper than 3 inches the plants do not do well, often dying as a result of rotting, and if the bud does not receive a covering of 2 inches it is not properly protected, and a greater proportion of suckers from the roots will appear; whereas a deeper planting discourages their formation.

Having made the hole sufficiently deep and wide fill [124] in with finely pulverized, rich, top soil, working it in firmly between and around all the roots. Gradually fill in, taking care to firm the soil thoroughly. This is necessary as roses like to be firmly planted in solid firm ground.

If the planting is done in the autumn shorten back the long canes to within 2 or 3 feet of the ground to prevent lashing in winter winds which tends to dislodge the surface feeding roots from the soil. Further pruning at this season is inadvisable, but spring-planted bushes may be pruned immediately according to directions given below. PRUNING Pruning, with the exception of the bush varieties, is one of the most important works to be performed in the rose garden as without this necessary operation small flowers poor in quality and borne on weak stems will result. The severity of pruning will depend upon the grower's desires, as one may prefer quantity to quality, but even so, some cutting is always necessary. Each spring there is a certain amount of dead wood to be removed, especially after a severe winter, which, if left would not only prove unsightly but would be an excellent breeding place for fungus spores and certain insect pests. Another reason for pruning is to concentrate [125] the flow of sap into a few buds. This, of course, very greatly increases the size of the flowers.

The number of buds produced annually are too numerous to be effectually nourished by the root system as the sap would then have to be divided among so many that no one bud would receive a sufficient amount to enable it to develop to the best of its ability. Therefore, by pruning, one removes these surplus buds and at the same time admits light and air by preventing too tangled a growth to form. Always prune to an outside bud as growth will take place in the direction in which the bud points, this also prevents the shoots from growing inward, making a tangled mass of foliage through which neither sunshine nor air can circulate adequately. Always make a clean cut about 1/4 of an inch above the bud, to prevent it from drying out before growth commences. Shaggy, torn cuts are bad as they consume more sap in the healing process; therefore use sharp, clean pruning shears, making a smooth slanting cut that will shed the rainwater and thus prevent rotting. The shape of the bush must be borne in mind and a well-balanced compact growth be maintained by careful pruning. Crowded branches and those that cross each other should be removed, also any weak, sickly looking shoots that can be spared. If they must be [126] Courtesy of J. Horace McFarland Company "A SWEETER FLOWER DID NATURE NE'ER PUT FORTH" retained their vigor can be increased by severe pruning which increases the root growth, making it better able to support a healthy, strong top growth later. A mistake often made is to prune vigorous canes severely and weak spindly shoots lightly. It must be remembered that severe pruning acts like a stimulant increasing very greatly the vigor of the growth; therefore, the weaker the cane the more severe must be the pruning given it. In cutting roses during the summer cut the flowers with long stems; this benefits the bush and gives the necessary summer pruning; always leave two or three buds at the base of the shoot to continue the growth. In removing faded flowers this method of cutting should also be practiced.