Planting and taking care of roses

Plant as quickly as possible after receipt If you cannot plant the roses with bare roots immediately upon receipt, you can keep the roses in the original plastic packaging for a maximum of one week in a cool room.

Planting

If you proceed to plant the roses, it is wise to place the roses in a bucket of water for 2 hours first. Planting instructions:

• Thoroughly wet the roots by placing the roses in a bucket of water for 2 hours
• Planting distance for most species 40-50 cm
• Plant at the correct depth, i.e. the roots straight down
• The  grafting site (where the trunk is somewhat thicker) slightly below ground level
• Place the rose in the planting hole, after which you press the soil well
• Pour water into the planting hole during drought.

Standard stem roses are planted as deep as they have been pinned up at the garden center.
If planting in the fall, it is advisable to ground the roses to 20 cm, that is to say, throw earth against the roses. Remove this earth again in the spring. If you plant in the spring, it is important that you regularly give enough water, because it is often dry and lean during that period.

Pruning roses

The pruning always takes place in the spring, around mid-March.

• Shrub roses are pruned from below just above the third outer eye; leave about 5-10 cm.
• Standard stem roses are pruned in the same way as shrub roses and are in terms of height calculated from the grafting site. 
• Weeping roses do not need to be pruned (only possible form pruning).
• Climbing roses. Tying young frame branches and pruning the side shoots back to 2 eyes. 
• Botanical and shrub roses do not need to be pruned. They bloom on old wood. Do not remove faded flowers in wild roses, because otherwise there will be no rose hips.

In the Netherlands, roses are generally pruned fairly briefly. This is in contrast to in England where almost no pruning is done. However, this means that roses age more quickly and are susceptible to diseases, in particular Blackspot (leaf spot disease).

Fertilizing

In the fall, it is possible to cover the roses with finished manure. If you do not have this at your disposal, you can also use dried cow manure instead. Rose fertilizer may be given at the beginning of April, which may be repeated after flowering. No fertilizer may be given after mid-July. It is also important that the roses receive sufficient water, especially in the summer.
It is also good to sprinkle lime a few times a year (especially in the fall) and kieserite (= magnesium) (in the spring).

Diseases

The most common is Mildew; this fungal disease causes a white attack on the leaf. The fungal diseases Blackspot and Sooty Dew cause black spots, after which the leaves fall off and the roses become completely bald. To prevent fungi, an airy, sunny place is important, and spraying is also possible.
Very important is keeping insects away. In the wounds that insects make, often the Sooty Dew begins. Various means are available for this.