Sloping down from the leafy seclusion of my Summer house, where I am writing, my new rose garden blooms gayly as a catalog page, though to an unimaginative eye, it appears as only an expanse of ground corn cobs.
Yet, I see roses, for, in October, I shall begin to plant after a year of hard work.
Soil Preparation
It took four separate attacks to eliminate mulberry and elm seedlings, assorted weeds, and nameless vagrants. All, except woody roots, were dug back in.
After surfacing with 6” inches of sawdust, I applied 25 pounds of ammonium sulfate to the little rose bed, approximately 500 square feet.
The nitrogen compensates for the rapid disintegration of this considerable volume of organic substances.
A few weeks ago, on the heels of final cultivation, I laid on a foot of ground corn cobs. This mulch has checked erosion, conserving moisture and furnishing additional food content.
Planting Stock
Vigorous plants from our most highly-considered rose nurseries are worth every cent they cost. “Bargains” seldom pay off.
Dormant, field-grown stock, delivered sometime from October to the last of November, proves most successful here in Michigan for Fall planting.
Plants that arrive unseasonably early must be heeled in promptly, firmly, and supplied with water until they can be properly planted.
Orders delivered after the ground has begun to freeze should be buried in a 2’ or 3’ feet deep trench to await planting in the spring’s earliest possible moment.
Planting Technique
The following simple rose planting routine has proved widely acceptable:
- Open an excavation in the prepared ground, generously deeper and wider than the root clump. Throw back several spadefuls of earth.
- Fill the hole to overflow with water, allowing it to drain away.
- Mound up a cone of soil at the center of the hole to serve as a base for the plant. Spread the roots comfortably, working in soil between and beneath them until the rose is settled firmly on its foundation.
- Fill the excavation to overflow with good garden soil. The union or graft should be 2” to 3” inches below the ground’s surface.
- Draw up a low rampart or wall of soil surrounding the plant at 8” inches from the center. The newly planted rose now stands in a depression.
Winter Protection
Just before the ground freezes, hill up around each rose with a mound of soil, 6” inches to a foot high.
Peat moss or compost will serve the purpose of any of the commercially available mulching commodities for rose winter protection.
A luxurious touch is a layer of barnyard manure applied after the ground has frozen.
Since the danger zone is late winter when the warming sun and drying wind threaten emerging growth, your thrifty gardener salvages Christmas greens to lay over plants for shade and insulation.
Precautions
- Wait to apply chemical fertilizers until after plants grow well during the following Summer.
- Always cut away cleanly damaged roots or top portions.
- Soak deeply and thoroughly just before the ground freezes.
44659 by Ruth Mosher Place