Feeding & Watering Roses

Water is the most important thing your roses need to grow well. Yes, more important than feeding and spraying. The difference between a beautiful rose garden and an average rose garden is usually the amount of water they get.

All gardens are different, so there are no strict rules about how much and how often you should water your roses. A simple test to check if your roses need water is to push your index finger into the soil near your rose as deep as you can, if it comes out dry then you need to water.

Remember, a well watered rose:

• Fights disease better, so you need to spray less often.
• Takes up nutrients better, so fertilising is more effective.
• Flowers more profusely.
• Has glossy and lush green foliage.
• Has bushier growth.

There are too many rose fertilisers on the market to mention and so many secret recipes, I could fill this entire website and still not list them all. Here are our recommendations for feeding, use this as a guide only, all gardens are different and require different nutrients.

Nitrophoska Extra. Apply about 3 applications from early Spring to late summer (September to March).

This is a complete food containing everything the rose needs. Spread it around the drip line ( not up against the stem) as the drip line is where the feeding roots are.

Nitrophoska Extra is not recommended for roses in pots.

Garden lime (or Dolomite lime): Apply over rose garden once every 2 or 3 years to keep acidity down. Not needed in some gardens. A soil PH meter is useful to determine this and is not expensive. A soil ph of between 6 and 6.5 is fine.

We do not recommend fresh manure. Some gardens perform superbly with aged manure and some disastrously. Use caution when applying any manure.