Watering and Feeding

Most roses aren't super drought tolerant, so give them a steady supply of moisture to keep them healthy and blooming. A general rule is roses prefer about an inch of water a week. But that sounds a bit deceptive because it's important to water them deeply. This encourages their roots to extend farther down in the soil where it stays moist longer.

Keep your roses healthy by using a soaker hose. This device slowly seeps water into the ground, directly to the roses' roots. It keeps the leaves dry, which helps your roses resist disease (because many diseases love wet leaves).

If your garden is blessed with rich soil or you amend it with compost or other forms of organic matter regularly, you probably won't need to feed your plants. But if you're cursed with poor soil or growing roses in containers, fertilizing can be helpful.

Learn more about fertilizing!

In most cases, all you need is a general-purpose garden fertilizer. Be sure to follow the directions on the packaging.

You might be tempted to use more fertilizer than is recommended, but you can have too much of a good thing. Overfertilization may cause your roses to produce fewer flowers, suffer root injury, or even kill the plants.

Because roses in containers can't reach farther into the soil to find more nutrients, they depend on you to feed them. One easy solution is to use a slow-release plant food. You just need to apply it once or twice a season and it feeds your plants for months.