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Planting your Roses
By: Carole Nixon

Dig the holes, laying some potting soil in the bottom. You may need some strong sticks and twine to support straying shoots. Leave the unpacking of the rose trees until you are ready to plant your roses. The air must not get to them as it will dry up the sap and weaken the plants.

Use a sharp knife to cut the dead tops off the shoots. Make sure you don’t pull off the tiny rootlets attached to the main roots.

Hold the plant upright and steady using a trowel to put the soil in.

Do not restrict the rose roots. Some of the trees have probably been growing in pots, and must have their roots gently separated and spread out in the hole. The potting soil helps to start the trees, and they soon go through into the heavier soil which is to produce such impressive rose flowers.

Cover the roots with the light soil, and then take the spade and fill in with the blend of loam and well decayed manure. This must not come higher than two inches above the junction of graft and stock, which can easily be found by the variation of the two woods, and also from the mark faintly seen showing how deeply it has already been planted in its original home, the nursery.

Settle them in firmly

To avoid the rose trees from being blown about by the wind, it is necessary to firmly stamp down the soil to give them a chance to root.

The ground must not be too hard, but, on the other hand, the trees should be able to stand a fair pull without moving from their places. I have noticed over and over again that I had only to pull at a rose tree gently, and it would be lying full length on the ground. What can be expected of the finest bush that ever grew when it has been planted in that way.

Mulch them as a finish

It is a good idea to mulch your rose trees after planting. Make a pointed pile of manure round each tree. This will keep off the frost and an excess of rain.

Leave some room around the rose tree clear of mulch. Decaying can take place if mulch is too close to the plant. Mulch is a natural way to improve the soil.