Rose Planting Trial at the Arno.

 

Rosa Penelope

Since we began replanting the forty two rose beds, we have been disappointed to find that many of the new roses were failing.  It has been an ongoing concern for the Friends group, as we have tried to establish a cause.  After discussion with the RHS North West in Bloom judge last Summer 2022, we have come up with a plan of action to revitalise the rose beds for everyone to enjoy.

All the rose beds were tested for their ph . This is how acidic or alkaline the soil is.  Roses need a ph of around 6.5. It didn't appear to be that which was a problem.  We contacted David Austin Roses, Peter Beales Roses and Harkness Roses, as well as searching on the Internet.  The general consensus  was that the roses needed to be planted in fresh soil, as the soil may have contained a virus which affected roses.  

With forty two rose beds, the task of completely changing the soil to a depth of around three feet was overwhelming.  But there was a simpler solution!

Since January 2023, we have been collecting cardboard boxes.  Yesterday February 16th, we began work on our Trial Bed.  We selected one of the worst rose beds, which had in fact been planted up twice before.  Alas, they virtually all died.  With only donated funds, and money raised from plant sales, we could not continue to lose roses.  This rose bed only had two very sickly specimens left, which we removed.

The bed had been dug over and weeded in preparation for the new roses to go in.  Six Rosa Penelope shrub roses, bare root, were ordered.  Part of the new action plan moving forward, is that fewer roses will be planted in each bed.  With fewer roses, we can give better attention to each rose in terms of feeding, pruning, dead heading, and watering when necessary. Another advantage of fewer roses per rose bed will be greater air circulation around them, reducing fungal problems.   The roses we will select will be larger, with more open flowers for pollinators and so hips will be produced to leave on over Winter.  More vigorous shrub roses will hopefully have greater resistance to disease and also lend themselves to more creative ways of tying in and pruning to enhance the flowering potential of each shrub rose. This technique has been used to great effect at Sissinghurst.

Many of our visitors have commented on how lovely it has been to see the roses under planted with lavender.  As roses don't start blooming until June, we have chosen to follow the example of many other rose gardens, such as the type at Dunham Massey.  These gardens clearly showcase roses, with their delicious scents, but also use perennials to under plant  and extend the season of interest.  The varied planting also attracts beneficial insects which will help to keep the roses healthier.  

Six Rosa Penelope roses arrived.  A group of us met , spades at the ready.  We decided on the positioning, allowing adequate space between each rose.  Deep holes were dug out, wider and deeper than our cardboard boxes.  Beneath,a layer of fresh topsoil mixed with home made compost.  The box was placed inside, then all around the box we added this same mix of topsoil and compost.  Then to start filling the box. The mixture once again, but now we added a couple of handfuls of rose slow release feed, which contained some farmyard manure, in pellet form.  The rose roots were sprinkled over with Rootgrow, a mycorrhizal fungi which helps the roots to establish faster.  Then gradually  the box was filled up with more fresh topsoil and compost.  Finally, after watering in, we made sure the rose was firmed in and the new soil was covering the tops of the boxes.   Then we repeated this for the other five roses.  To complete our afternoon we forked over the bed to tidy it up after all our work.

 We are very optimistic that this trial method of planting the new roses will be successful.  This year we will be carefully monitoring their growth and health.  In the coming months, you will no doubt see our volunteers planting around the roses, to reduce the need for so much weeding, as well as enhancing the look of the garden.  If it proves to be the way forward then we will plan to replant another bed in the Autumn.