Getting your roses off to a good start is essential: Once you have planted them in their designated growing spot they should not be disturbed in any way, whatsoever, which includes the perpetual digging of surface soil that so many malis are addicted to. Roses primarily take up food through their fibrous root system close to the soil surface and digging quickly destroys these which, ultimately and sometimes very quickly indeed, starves the plant to death. This wanton destruction of feeder roots cannot be compensated for by feeding the soil as, without the necessary feeder roots, the plant gains absolutely no benefit.

Soil around and underneath rose bushes is best kept mulched, over planted with low growing, ground cover plants to suppress weeds and help retain soil moisture. Growing lots of garlic chives, chives or other members of the ‘allium’ family, in amongst roses works well in keeping aphids at bay.

Now, although this should perhaps have been done earlier, time for a look at the soil conditions roses prefer: Roses will flourish in most soil types as long as it is well drained and has lots of organic material worked in. A mixture of water retentive clay soil, river sand and old, well rotted, organic manure or homemade compost is ideal especially if a little organic lime, in the form of powdered limestone, is also added to the mix. Roses, unlike many other plants, appreciate a little lime as it neutralises harmful acids, those from fresh or too much manure for instance.

There is no hard and fast rule about how much clay, river sand, manure or compost to use in the preparation of rose beds but I would suggest a basic mix of one third clay, one third river sand and one third compost with only a dash of animal manure.

Adding copious amounts of manure to rose beds is a common mistake and a mistake made by many gardeners, not just beginners. Too much manure kills roses due to the high amount of acid it inevitably contains. This acid is much less in old manure than in the fresh stuff but is still highly injurious to their delicate root system and more roses are lost through over-manuring than from any other cause although over-watering does run a close second. Over-manuring and then trying to rectify the situation by adding more organic lime is unlikely to save the roses and will only serve to further damage soil structure. A little manure, a little lime and the rest is up to you.

If the soil in your locality is of a highly alkaline/saline nature then it is usually necessary to dig out and dispose of the top 18 to 24 inches of your intended rose bed and replace it with top quality sweet soil mixed as detailed above and, prior to filling in the bed with this new mix, spread a couple of inches of sharp gravel in the bottom of the hole as this will aid drainage. Rose beds should never be allowed to get waterlogged therefore, if your garden has this tendency during the rains, it is best to grow roses in a raised bed which is at least four inches above the surrounding area so that excess water can run off.

Specially designated rose beds should, ideally, be prepared a month prior to actual planting so that the soil has plenty of time to settle down.

The planting of newly acquired roses is a task to be performed with care and consideration: Planting holes should be large and deep enough to spread out the plant roots in a natural position. This generally means a hole approximately 12 inches deep and 12 inches wide although it can vary from plant to plant with bare-root roses and with the size of the ‘root ball’ of pot grown plants. The old gardening trick of dipping rose roots into a bucket full of sloppy mud to give them a nourishing coating immediately before planting out gives them a real boost!

Next, after carefully spreading the roots out in the planting hole, ensuring that the uppermost lateral roots are no more and no less than two inches below what will be the soil surface after the hole is filled in, carefully in-fill with soft earth (without any manure) until the hole is three-quarters full and then slowly pour in enough water to fill the hole to the brim. The water will gently settle the soil into place around the roots without causing the kind of damage a human can do. The water should have drained away after 15 minutes or so when you can fill the hole almost to the top with soil, water it down and leave it until the following day to top it up and finish it off.

Let the plants get to grips with their new environment for a week or so and then prune back any dead or damaged wood plus remove all flower buds for the first three months so that the plant puts all of its energy into getting established rather than in forming blooms which it will do, with renewed vigour, later on.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. Answers to selected questions will appear in a future issue of the magazine. This takes time. The writer will not respond directly by e-mail. E-mails with attachments will not be opened. Please note: The writer’s garden is not open to the public.