ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHOOSING ROSES FOR BORDERS
Bare-root roses to set your borders ablaze next summer
WITH the daylight hours now shrinking fast, if you need a cheering job to lift the pre-winter blues, plant a rose or two to brighten your borders next year. From November to March it’s bare-root season – the optimum time to get roses in the ground, to allow their roots to establish and grow strong.
When shopping for border roses, bear in mind that the best ones are compact, repeat-flowering shrubs that resist pests and diseases well. It’s a bonus if they attract wildlife and fill the air with scent, and even better if they produce hips in autumn.
Consider colour as well – pink roses (such as Aphrodite) inject softness; dark-crimson varieties (Munstead Wood, for example) add drama; whites (like Desdemona) are elegant; and peach roses (such as ‘Just Joey’) are wonderful in west-facing borders, where the sunset will ignite their copper tones.
Meanwhile, red roses (the likes of ‘Dusky Maiden’) and yellow forms (such as The Poet’s Wife) will draw the eye – they’re ideal for borders beside a terrace, but can make your garden appear smaller if planted far away.
Once you’ve compiled your list, buy your roses as bare roots from specialist rose nurseries, either in person or by mail order – they are cheaper than containerised options. Avoid bare-root roses sold in supermarkets and garden centres – these may have dried out and therefore might not establish well.
Once you get them home (and assuming the ground isn’t frozen), bareroot roses are best planted as soon as possible – unlike their containerised cousins, which are happy in their pots for some days. Soak the roots in a bucket of water for an hour while you prepare the ground.
Dig a hole that’s plenty wide and deep enough for the roots; use a fork to thoroughly loosen the soil beneath and dig in well-rotted manure. Water the hole if the ground is dry, and wait for the water to sink in. Then hold your rose over the hole and sprinkle mycorrhizal fungi onto the roots. Plant so the graft (the join between stems and roots) is 2in (5cm) below the surface. Backfill, and lightly press down the soil to ensure there are no air pockets.
Plant these border beauties from now until March, and look forward to enjoying the romance of roses come June.