If you want compliments on your amazing roses, and the ability to have fresh-cut roses throughout your home (and enough extra to give away to lucky friends), you'll want to learn how to fertilize your roses properly.
It is a bit of an art and a science, and you'll be rewarded if you take some time to learn what your roses really need, rather than just dumping a box of general fertilizer on your rose beds and calling that "good enough".
Roses thrive on abundant fertilizer, but it needs to be the right kind.
And while abundant fertilizer is good, if you over-fertilize your roses you will be disappointed with the results.
It is best to apply fertilizer late in winter while roses are still dormant, but after you've pruned for the year.
As the soil warms up in the spring, the fertilizer will break down and feed your rosebushes.
Apply another light dose in the late summer of in the fall for consistent feeding throughout the year.
Even in winter, when it seems like your roses are not doing anything, they are building the root systems that will ultimately give rise to those coveted blooms.
There are many recipes for fertilizer out there -- here's a great basic one that works well for most roses.
This amount should feed a medium-sized bush for a year.
1 Cup cottonseed meal 1 Cup superphosphate (0-20-0) or bone meal 1/2 Cup fish meal 1/2 Cup blood meal 1/2 Cup Epsom salts (also known as magnesium sulphate) There are also dozens if not hundreds of pre-mixed rose fertilizers available to buy.
Which one you pick is up to you, but it is better to carefully compare what's in the fertilizer against what is missing in your soil.
The only way to really know what's missing in your soil is to do a soil test.
A soil test costs $10 or so and can be done through your local county extension office.
You take a few samples of soil from your yard, following the instructions for the soil test, and then send the soil samples off to your state university for testing.
In about four to six weeks you'll get a detailed report back with suggestions on how to improve your soil, and detailed data about the current condition of your soil.
All serious gardeners know to get their soil tested every few years.
Before fertilizing your rosebushes, water the area well.
Next, apply your fertilizer mixture evenly on the ground, from an inch out from the trunk to the perimeter of the bush.
Rake the fertilizer into the top two inches of soil before watering again.
If your roses are newly planted from bare root stock, be careful not to burn the roots.
In this case, wait until the plant has produced a few blooms before applying fertilizer.
You may wish to use a fertilizer of weaker strength more frequently for the first year.
Additionally, you may wish to use a slow release fertilizer applied equally in spring, summer, and fall.
Add a tablespoon of chelated iron to an organic fertilizer mix, apply it around the base of your bushes, and water.
Your roses will thank you with abundant blossoms.
It is a bit of an art and a science, and you'll be rewarded if you take some time to learn what your roses really need, rather than just dumping a box of general fertilizer on your rose beds and calling that "good enough".
Roses thrive on abundant fertilizer, but it needs to be the right kind.
And while abundant fertilizer is good, if you over-fertilize your roses you will be disappointed with the results.
It is best to apply fertilizer late in winter while roses are still dormant, but after you've pruned for the year.
As the soil warms up in the spring, the fertilizer will break down and feed your rosebushes.
Apply another light dose in the late summer of in the fall for consistent feeding throughout the year.
Even in winter, when it seems like your roses are not doing anything, they are building the root systems that will ultimately give rise to those coveted blooms.
There are many recipes for fertilizer out there -- here's a great basic one that works well for most roses.
This amount should feed a medium-sized bush for a year.
1 Cup cottonseed meal 1 Cup superphosphate (0-20-0) or bone meal 1/2 Cup fish meal 1/2 Cup blood meal 1/2 Cup Epsom salts (also known as magnesium sulphate) There are also dozens if not hundreds of pre-mixed rose fertilizers available to buy.
Which one you pick is up to you, but it is better to carefully compare what's in the fertilizer against what is missing in your soil.
The only way to really know what's missing in your soil is to do a soil test.
A soil test costs $10 or so and can be done through your local county extension office.
You take a few samples of soil from your yard, following the instructions for the soil test, and then send the soil samples off to your state university for testing.
In about four to six weeks you'll get a detailed report back with suggestions on how to improve your soil, and detailed data about the current condition of your soil.
All serious gardeners know to get their soil tested every few years.
Before fertilizing your rosebushes, water the area well.
Next, apply your fertilizer mixture evenly on the ground, from an inch out from the trunk to the perimeter of the bush.
Rake the fertilizer into the top two inches of soil before watering again.
If your roses are newly planted from bare root stock, be careful not to burn the roots.
In this case, wait until the plant has produced a few blooms before applying fertilizer.
You may wish to use a fertilizer of weaker strength more frequently for the first year.
Additionally, you may wish to use a slow release fertilizer applied equally in spring, summer, and fall.
Add a tablespoon of chelated iron to an organic fertilizer mix, apply it around the base of your bushes, and water.
Your roses will thank you with abundant blossoms.