Blog: the cost-effective way to grow successful blooms
When it comes to planting a bare-root rose, it’s the smart choice for stronger, healthier plants – and your wallet.
Bare-root roses are much cheaper than container or ‘containerised’ plants. They’re available from approximately November to April and you plant them when they’re dormant or just breaking dormancy (check for the first new buds of spring). As you might guess, bare-root roses are sent out with naked roots when the plant is dormant. When the temperature rises, plants grow strongly.
The other bonus with bare-root roses is that they come in a much wider range of varieties, so you’re bound to find one that suits you. In my case, I needed a mid-size climbing rose suitable for my east-facing fence. It had to be very fragrant!
I chose Woolerton Old Hall from David Austin Roses. I’ve painted the fence it is growing on in intense lavender on one side and saffron on the other, so the choice of colour was limited. Luckily, Woolerton Old Hall fits the bill, being pale apricot when opening, fading to cream. The buds have flashes of red. Its most wonderful attribute is its scent – a strong, warm myrrh fragrance with intense hints of citrus. It will eventually grow to 3-4m, which will be seen on both sides of the fence. It’s repeat flowering, too.
How to plant bare-root roses
Don’t be put off by the ‘dead-looking state’ of bare-root roses. They’re pruned right back before postage to keep down shipping costs. Hard pruning encourages strong new growth, so it’s all for the good.
How to plant:
- Dig a hole slightly deeper and wider than the roots. Fork the base of the hole to aid root penetration and drainage and add slow-release granular rose fertiliser to the base.
- Place the rose in position, using a cane placed across the top of the hole to judge the final soil level. Set the base of the stems slightly below this level.
- Add a spadeful of compost to the soil from the hole and mix. Add more slow-release rose fertiliser to the soil and backfill around the roots, firming with the heel of your boot.
- Add a mulch of well-rotted compost to the surface to conserve moisture and smother weeds.
- Water the rose well. Keep watering twice a week in dry weather for the first year.
Don’t plant during frosty weather or if the soil is waterlogged. Keep bare-root plants in a frost-free shed until daytime temperatures are above freezing.
Planting a bare-root rose – How to train your rose
Climbing roses do need to be trained. Once the new shoots have appeared, they need to be trained horizontally. Why? Well, this encourages flowering shoots to be created vertically from these main shoots. You can train roses on wires (which I’m doing here) or use a trellis.
Remember that mature roses can weigh a lot, so you’ll need suitably strong wire and fixings, such as long nails or vine eyes in brickwork. Place the lowest wire 60cm)from the ground, repeating every 30cm up the fence. The wires should cover the width you want the rose to fill. Use vine eyes or nails every 1.5m to hold the wire and stop it from sagging.
For more on pruning, read my how-to guide.
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