Before planting, allow the roots
to soak in water overnight.

Planting Tips from the Experts

Take a dip. Remove any broken roots from plants. Cut off the tip of every root, and cut back any extremely long roots. Dip the plants in a solution of 1 cup bleach and 5 gallons water to kill any disease organisms. A quick, one-minute dip will do.

 

Gently tamp the soil at the base
of the plant, but don't pack the
soil down hard.

Don't pack it in. When planting bare-root roses, build up a cone-shaped mound at the bottom of the hole, then spread the roots over the mound and down into the hole on all sides. Fill the hole with amended soil, then water.

 

Amend the soil you removed with
peat moss.

Amendments. Dig a hole twice as wide as the spread of the roots and about 8 inches deeper than you'll need to plant the rose at its original depth. You can throw in a handful of superphosphate and mix it around. Add gypsum pellets if you have heavy clay soil.

 

Wait to fertilize newly planted
roses until after their first
bloom.

Food for flowers. Established roses can be fertilized just before they leaf out in spring. Slow-release fertilizers can be applied sparingly -- as little as once or twice during the growing season -- while water-soluble fertilizers may need to be applied every few weeks.