In order for your roses to thrive, the soil must meet certain requirements. If it isn't, you'll need to upgrade it.
How quickly and magnificently a rose develops in the garden depends largely on the soil conditions. Hobby gardeners often find themselves faced with a problem. Some have sandy soil in their garden, others heavy or acidic soil. Which is better for growing roses and how can you improve less suitable soil as a location for your roses? We want to give you some answers to these questions here.
Sandy soil is not ideal for roses
Sandy soils dry out quickly and are poor at storing nutrients. Therefore, they are not exactly ideal as a location for roses. But that doesn't mean you have to do without roses in your garden. After all, you can improve this soil for rose planting with little effort. And this is how it works:
- Dig out the planting hole at least 70 centimeters high, deep and wide.
- Now work compost and bentonite into your excavation (here in the assortment).
- Then plant the rose. But remember: the grafting point must then be 5 centimeters below the surface of the earth.
Heavy floors are not very permeable to air
Heavy soil has a good nutrient balance. They also bind water well. Thus they offer excellent conditions for the cultivation of roses. However, there is one downer: the soil is not well aerated. But there is a remedy for that, too.
- You dig a planting hole, also 70 centimeters high, deep and wide.
- Then work coarse sand, gravel or grit into the excavation.
- Before you fill the top 40 centimeters of your planting hole, mix up to 30 percent of the excavation with mature compost. Pay attention to the grafting point, which must eventually be 5 centimeters below the soil surface.
Highly acidic soils are not suitable for roses
Roses do best on a neutral toslightly acidic soil with a pH of 6 to 7. A high clay content is also a good sign. Acidic soils with a pH below 6 can be neutralized with a little lime. Garden retailers offer lime in various forms for this purpose, such as algae lime, lime marl, shell limestone and others. When administering lime, always pay attention to the dosage instructions. You should consider:
- Quicklime is unsuitable for improving the soil for rose sites. He looks too hot.
- If you over-lime your soil, your rose petals may develop chlorosis. The leaves then turn yellow from iron deficiency. Because lime keeps the iron in the ground. This element is then no longer available to the roots.
- In this case, it is advisable to take a soil sample and have it analyzed by a laboratory.
Don't plant "roses on roses"
"No roses on roses" means: wherever you plant roses on a site where roses have previously been planted, the queen of flowers will suffer an incurable growth depression that can lead to the death of the plant. This phenomenon is called "soil fatigue". What can you do about it?
- You need to generously replace the floor where there used to be roses. To do this, they dig a pit 70 centimeters high, deep and wide and fill it with fresh soil.
- In addition, soil fatigue may also occur where previously related rose plants such as apple, pear or strawberry stood. It is therefore recommended to carry out a soil replacement in these areas as well.