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Prune
One important thing you should do every year is prune your roses (climbers and certain smaller varieties might require a different technique). Roses will continue to grow taller and taller and it won’t be too many years until you have an unmanageable tangle. Before they begin to grow every season is the right time to start (February or March and be finished before they start to leaf out).
If you bought your roses in 2010 and they are not taller than 20 inches, do not cut them back this year (2011). For those of you who have older plants (hybrids, floribunda and shrub, which includes Knock Outs) reducing their height to about 15-18 inches is your first step to growing super roses. It is good for the bush to have an open center, but you don’t have to get crazy about removing other stems right away. About the third year you might want to remove a few of the older canes.
For hybrid tea rose growers, pruning for exhibition roses is almost an exact science with only three to five canes in an opened center vase pattern. If you are not interested in winning a blue ribbon at the state fair, reducing their height and removing dead, damaged, diseased and twiggy canes should be good enough.
Spraying
Spraying is a chore no one seems to enjoy. The amount of time spent growing super roses can be reduced if you would spray them in the dead of winter. An oil spray is a nonselective spray and will suffocate many of the insects (and their eggs) that love roses. Note: Read the labels; some oils can be used year round and are good for fighting many insects and scale on many different plants.
Another spray that is beneficial in the winter, before bud break, is lime sulfur (considered a dormant spray). Be sure to spray the area around the roses, too, as many insects overwinter in the soil and mulch. Super roses could use a bit of lime once a year if the soil isn’t perfect. A soil test will dictate exactly what your rose needs. In the absence of a soil test, you usually can apply a 1/2 cup (per bush) annually to keep them happy. When planting for the first time mix 1 cup of lime per bush into the soil if the area has not been limed before.
Fertilizer
Roses will be healthier if they are fed. A shovel full of composted manure this time of year helps get them off to a nice start. When creating a new bed, always incorporate it into the soil. When you see the first bit of new growth showing on the canes, it is time for the first fertilizer application. A balanced fertilizer like an 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 will do nicely. Once they bud, fertilize them regularly throughout the growing season depending on your fertilizer of choice. Varieties of fertilizers available include: granular, organic, just for roses mixtures, systemic liquid rose fertilizer with a miticide and an insecticide combination, plain liquid fertilizers, time released fertilizers, or the granular fertilizer like you used at bud break.
It is true the Knock Out roses are disease resistant. That does not mean they will not get diseases, nor have insect problems. They can and do, but they aren’t as fussy as other roses might be. They are just able to better tolerate or throw off the effects of various problems. You will need to spray some rose cultivars on a regular basis to avoid or reduce damages from diseases and insects.
Watering
One factor you cannot neglect is moisture. They need water! They should receive a minimum of one inch a week during the growing season. Avoid prolonged dry spells!
Japanese Beetles
A word about those dreaded Japanese beetles: Yes, they eat your roses! You can use a systemic insecticide, pick them off, spray for them, plant marigolds around them or, do like I do, and remove the blooms at the first sight of a beetle (no blooms, no beetles). By the time the rose has generated the next flush of blooms the beetles have completed their life cycle and are gone.
This is the time to consider your next rose choice and it is not too soon to plant the bare root varieties. Choosing only grade 1 or 1-1/2 roses is the first step of the journey to growing super roses! Good soil preparation is the next step (see Fairview’s Rose Growing Guide, it is a month to month guide to help you remember how to do what and when).
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