First off, what is a Rose?
A Rose is a Woody perennial watering plant of genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae, or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars.
They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, climbing, or trailing, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles.
Most rose species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers being native to North America and a few to Europe and northwest Africa.
Roses from different regions of the world hybridize readily, giving rise to types that overlap the parental forms, and making it difficult to determine basic species.
The unique features of roses are their petals are edible and rose water (made from soaking the petals in water) is often added to jellies or jams, or is used as flavouring in Indian and Chinese dishes.
Roses also grow a berry-shaped fruit called rose hips. The fruit can be orange, red, dark purple.
The ideal pH for roses is soil that tests between 6 and 6.5. When the pH falls below 6, the soil will hold potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus molecules captive.
Roses come in a wide variety of colours that can convey various meanings: a single red rose, for example, sometimes means, “I love you.”
Now we’ve seen what a Rose is and its origin and what it symbolises, we’ll consider how the best ways to water this plant or in other words care for it.
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If you have roses planted in good soil, accompanied by good organic matter then you’ll need to water these already established plants once a week with at least two gallons of water preferably during the morning hours during its growing season.
*Note that roses do not need to be watered during temperate climates like winter.
How Roses are watered and the quantity used for watering depends largely on the type of rose and the climate season, the soil type, and how recently the rose was planted.
For example
• Established Roses bushes: can be watered once a week with about 2 Gallons of water(9 liters)
• Large climbing roses: 4 Gallons of water once in a week
• Newly planted roses: 2 Gallons of water, two to four times per week
• Potted Roses: 2 Gallons of water, one to two times weekly
• Roses in sand soil: 2 Gallons, one to two times weekly
But Generally, during the hottest and drowsy weeks of summer, you need to water your Rose more frequently, preferably two to three times a week.
During this season, Drooping leaves and dry stems are early signs of drought and so you should endeavour to water your plants immediately to prevent them from dying.
If your rose is planted in a naturally sandy area or the rose is in a windy exposed area, then you need to water your rose twice a week with a lot of water.
If your rose is planted in clay soil, then it might have slow drainage, and so you must water only once in a week in dry conditions, and amend the soil with organic matter to improve soil conditions
During winter in temperate climates, you will not need to water your rose until the following spring as your rose will not be actively growing and the soil is naturally more moist in winter.
In dry climates, you can water your rose once a month during the winter and resume the normal once per week watering schedule when the weather begins to warm up in the spring and the first leaves start to emerge.
This advice relies on having planted your rose in soil that has been amended with lots of organic matter as this will hold moisture which allows the roots to draw upon it as and when it’s
needed whilst also providing good drainage so that water is not pooling around the roots for extended periods and causing rot.
Soaking your roses once a week strengthens its root and helps them grow and also builds the rose resistance to drought as they tap into moisture deep in the soil.
Now let’s see some mistakes we should avoid while watering roses:
• Do not water your Rose again And often throughout the week. If you only use enough water to soak the first inch or two of soil then you will encourage the roots to grow near the surface rather than establish deep down into the soil which will make your rose less stable in windy conditions.
• Do not overwater your rose. If you water your rose too frequently (several times per week) with lots of water then the ground can become too wet and the roots of your rose will begin to rot.
Below are some useful tips for the overall care of our rose plants:
1. Plant your roses in full sunlight – be sure that they never have less than four hours of sunlight on them each day or you will notice reduced flowering.
2. Never consider growing roses in areas with a cold draught or in waterlogged ground. 3. Enrich your soil with organic matter, such as well-rotted manure, and plant your roses there. This will give them the best chance to thrive.
4. Before planting a rose bush, prune back all the branches to about 15cm (6in) in length to concentrate the plant’s energies on producing a strong root system
Considering all these tips, if you’re a beginner and these procedures seem confusing to you, Below there are seven (7) simple and basic steps that can help you!
• Start with the roots: make sure the roots of your rose plants are healthy and properly watered
• Choose your roses wisely: choose roses that best suit your environment and soil conditions to give you the best results
• Find the best site: you need to find the right site if you want your roses to thrive well.
• Get the timing right: you need Good timing to know when to water your rose plants or grow them, great timing in watering is a good step to keeping a healthy rose
• Plant properly
• Fertilize regularly
• Water wisely
