Planting Methods
GARDEN BED The only position we open to us for a garden bed was a long our side fence, so a 50cm wide by 50cm deep and about 14-15 metres long trench was dug out (by hand), a layer of course blue metal was laid for drainage, from our local landscape supplier we back filled the trench with a bulk load of there rich Vegi Mix. To this vegi mix we dug in a sifted aged organic cow manure, at rate of 1 bag per 2 metres.
To each position where a rose was to be planted, a 50cm wide hole was dug out, deep enough to then be filled with a PREMIX consisting of... 1 bag of Regular Potting Mix, 1 bag of a Soil Conditioner - one that contains Bentonite Clay, a naturally occurring mineral, which gives sandy soil a cohesive structure with good drainage but also the capacity to hold water and nutrients and release these minerals back to plant roots) and 1/2 Litre Perlite. A hole was then made into this mix to take the potted rose, in the bottom of this hole we add a handful of 9 month Slow Release Fertiliser and a good handful Worm Castings. Then the roses are then watered in well with Seasol to avoid transplant shock, Seasol is used every 10 days until the plants start to establish themselves, after this we use Seasol every 2-3 weeks. We've found that using any other fertiliser other than whats been mentioned, you will run the risk of burning the young roots of the plant.
When planting the roses particular care was taken not to over compact the soil, we found that over compacting inhibited the spread of the root system and effected the growth of the rose.
POT PLANTING Because of limited garden bed space we have the majority of roses in pots, over a period of time we acquired many large (at least 50cm wide) ceramic/glazed pots. After much research to find what was a good method in potting up roses, a reasonable approach needed to be taken. Having over 35-40 potted roses, finding a good potting mix at a reasonable price, without going over the top needed to be considered. There are many types of mixes on the market, Premium mixes, Standard mixes, Rose mixes and so on, with costs ranging from $3 - $12 a bag. Now, with large pots, which in our opinion is necessary, you will be using 2-3 bags, so cost does become a factor in what way you go. Also, the problem with potting mixes, you don't really know what you are getting, unfortunately for the consumer, the industry is self regulated, there's really no watch dog out there holding the industry to account.
After a lot of research and talking with rose growers from rosarians to experienced rose growers and keen rose hobbyist, things we were advised to look at were:
# Drainage – to help hold the soil structure open so water moves through and it doesn’t become anaerobic.
# Aeration – a good mix will be light and fluffy, allowing air pockets to form in the soil structure so your plant roots and
micro organisms have the oxygen they need to thrive.
# Water retention – moisture holding capacity is essential or you will have a water repellent mix and waste money on unnecessary watering.
# Nutrient retention – ingredients that bind or hold onto the minerals means less leaching of nutrients; improves plant health
and saves you money.
So we came to the conclusion, that we would create our own mix. The base for our mix is a Regular all purpose potting mix: the Industry Standard requires that Regular mixes contain adequate levels of all trace elements and secondary elements, but there is no requirement for the major nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, this means that we needed to add fertilisers to these mix. From our local landscaping supplier we bought a bulk load of Richgro's regular mix. So with the potting mix, we added these ingredients:
So starting off, to 1 bag of potting mix... we add...
(1) 9 litre Coir Peat Brick
(2) 1/2 litre Perlite
(3) 2 cups Worm Castings
(4) 10 litres aged organic Cow Manure (sifted)
(5) 1 cup Slow Release Rose fertiliser
To each position where a rose was to be planted, a 50cm wide hole was dug out, deep enough to then be filled with a PREMIX consisting of... 1 bag of Regular Potting Mix, 1 bag of a Soil Conditioner - one that contains Bentonite Clay, a naturally occurring mineral, which gives sandy soil a cohesive structure with good drainage but also the capacity to hold water and nutrients and release these minerals back to plant roots) and 1/2 Litre Perlite. A hole was then made into this mix to take the potted rose, in the bottom of this hole we add a handful of 9 month Slow Release Fertiliser and a good handful Worm Castings. Then the roses are then watered in well with Seasol to avoid transplant shock, Seasol is used every 10 days until the plants start to establish themselves, after this we use Seasol every 2-3 weeks. We've found that using any other fertiliser other than whats been mentioned, you will run the risk of burning the young roots of the plant.
When planting the roses particular care was taken not to over compact the soil, we found that over compacting inhibited the spread of the root system and effected the growth of the rose.
POT PLANTING Because of limited garden bed space we have the majority of roses in pots, over a period of time we acquired many large (at least 50cm wide) ceramic/glazed pots. After much research to find what was a good method in potting up roses, a reasonable approach needed to be taken. Having over 35-40 potted roses, finding a good potting mix at a reasonable price, without going over the top needed to be considered. There are many types of mixes on the market, Premium mixes, Standard mixes, Rose mixes and so on, with costs ranging from $3 - $12 a bag. Now, with large pots, which in our opinion is necessary, you will be using 2-3 bags, so cost does become a factor in what way you go. Also, the problem with potting mixes, you don't really know what you are getting, unfortunately for the consumer, the industry is self regulated, there's really no watch dog out there holding the industry to account.
After a lot of research and talking with rose growers from rosarians to experienced rose growers and keen rose hobbyist, things we were advised to look at were:
# Drainage – to help hold the soil structure open so water moves through and it doesn’t become anaerobic.
# Aeration – a good mix will be light and fluffy, allowing air pockets to form in the soil structure so your plant roots and
micro organisms have the oxygen they need to thrive.
# Water retention – moisture holding capacity is essential or you will have a water repellent mix and waste money on unnecessary watering.
# Nutrient retention – ingredients that bind or hold onto the minerals means less leaching of nutrients; improves plant health
and saves you money.
So we came to the conclusion, that we would create our own mix. The base for our mix is a Regular all purpose potting mix: the Industry Standard requires that Regular mixes contain adequate levels of all trace elements and secondary elements, but there is no requirement for the major nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, this means that we needed to add fertilisers to these mix. From our local landscaping supplier we bought a bulk load of Richgro's regular mix. So with the potting mix, we added these ingredients:
So starting off, to 1 bag of potting mix... we add...
(1) 9 litre Coir Peat Brick
(2) 1/2 litre Perlite
(3) 2 cups Worm Castings
(4) 10 litres aged organic Cow Manure (sifted)
(5) 1 cup Slow Release Rose fertiliser