Soil for roses and its preparation
Soil for roses and its preparation
Soil requirements for roses.
Implementation of soil preparation for the planned planting shrub roses should be carefully thought out and precisely performed, because when the plant is already planted any corrections become extremely difficult to implement and in practice it's associated with digging and transplanting plant. When we start to prepare position for roses firstly we must remove any pollutions from the ground like: debris, bricks, pieces of planks and steel, underpinnings fragments. The perennial weeds such as couch grass, bindweed, thistle (milk thistle), nuns and others also need to be removed. Lack of carefully eradicate weeds will make them come back to us every year like boomerang and will require additional work. If we can, then at least a few months before the planting weshould spray the ground with weeds with foliar herbicide Roundup, which within 6-8 weeks will destroy all the weeds along with their underground parts.
The substrate for the cultivation of roses should be carefully prepared. It is understood that it should consist in:
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1/3 of clay
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1/3 of processed cow dung
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1/3 turfy soil
Soil pH should be maintained at H 6.5 to 7.0. To mixture prepared in this way we should add fertilizers. The final content of the soil should be at 10-20 mg of nitrogen (per 100 g dry weight of soil), 50 mg potassium, 35-40 mg of phosphorus and 6-8% of humus. To determine the amount of needed fertilizer we should make an analysis of the soil. Often we can find out by ourselves, by making a visual inspection or by earlier cultivation of other shrubs , if the soil for our garden requires input of fertilizers and if it has enough nutrients for the future rose. The substrate before application should be treated with compost. To fertilize we use two types of fertilizers – mineral and manure. Using manure we should be careful to not burn the plant, so it's good to put the the fertilizer gradually, allowing to oxidise of nitrogen.
Not too wet. Roses stand up to many soil types, but when the level of ground water is to high even the toughest representatives of rose species capitulate. Very clayey and very concise, slaughtered soil is not suitable for roses, especially at newly built-up areas where heavy machinery and vehicles have been working on the surface of the ground for a long time. Even the loose sandy soil may then be so dense that it begins to collect water. This layer of water is certain death for the roots and then the whole plant. Therefore clay and slaughtered soils must be loosened and drained to allow water to drain away. To heavy and water- permeate soils must be added some sand and, if we can some gravel without sharp edges, and more importantly, without calcium. Beneficial influence on the soil have also additive materials such as garden compost or similar.
Not too dry. Almost the same as wet soils troublesome are also light sandy soils. Here, the roots will not rot, but the plant will quickly begin to feel drought as the water flows rapidly through the soil and the roots do not manage to get enough nutrients. On sandy soils roses are further threatened by acidification of ground. As a result, the roots are not able to download important nutrients and the symptoms of deficiency appear rapidly To the soil too sandy and not retaining moisture we should add peat or humus to make it more concise. Too sandy soils are also enriched with clay and compost. The aim of treatment is to improve the water holding capacity of the soil and we can't forget about the significant influence of mineral salts on this process. Helpful can be also specially prepared rock powders available in garden stores. Preparing a completely fresh, fertile soil is necessary only in extreme cases. This operation is very time-consuming and usually it's enough to add sand to very concise soil and clay or peat to soil very sandy and dry. Average garden soils require only deep digging (for two spade), enabling fast and deep development of the plant root system.
Caution! Avoid surfaces on which roses have been grown before. Newly planted roses in such place sooner or later will waste. If we don't have available another place , we need to remove the old soil where roses have been growing to a depth of 60 - 80 cm and replace it with fresh medium, which have never grown roses. Similarly on rose flowerbed where, by some accident or frost one of the plants died off, you can not just replace it with a new one. All new roses planted in this way are waste, even with optimal sunlight, aeration and cultivation. This is due to microscopic nematodes that accumulate around the roots of growing roses, not causing them harm anyway. However, the new roses fresh roots can cause serious harm. These surfaces need at least 10 years of fallow to regenerate the soil itself. If we prefer to plant roses at once it's absolutely necessary to replace the old ground with new ones to a depth of the above mentioned minimum of 60 cm. Remember, that after planting a rose bush or the roses already growing, to use litter layer of garden compost or bark inhibit the development of new weeds. In addition, mulch protects the ground from the hot sun in summer, from frost in winter and longer keeps moisture at the roots. The roots of roses breathe intensively so it is recommended to two or three times per season, which experienced enthusiasts of rose bushes remember, loosening soil around the root ball. A useful tool for this work are narrow, two-tooth fork. Doing this we have to be careful not to damage the roots by undermining the forks. Loosens by the thick fork pricking the surface layer to a depth of 5 cm. By forks we do some deep punctures to a depth of 15 - 20 cm at a distance of 5 - 7 cm from the main shoot of a rose, which is designed to oxygenate the deeper layers of the soil near the roots.