Project details
Skill
1 out of 5EasyRose bushes are light and the digging is minimal
Cost
About $20 to $35
Estimated Time
10 to 20 minutes per plant
This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook and rosarian Felicity Keen show how to beautify a fence line with blooming rose bushes.
How to plant climbing roses
- Place one potted rose bush in the center between each pair of fence posts. Set the plant very close to the fence rails.
- Use a pointed shovel to cut a circle into the ground around each potted plant. Be sure the circle is two times wider than the pot.
- Move the potted bush out of the way and dig a hole two times wider and 6 inches deeper than the plant itself.
- Place the excavated topsoil off to one side of the hole. If you hit sand, shovel it into a wheelbarrow and discard. Repeat to dig holes for the remaining rose bushes.
- Into the topsoil mix: two full shovels of peat moss, one-half handful of super phosphate, and one-half shovel of chicken manure.
- Fill the bottom of each planting hole with about 6 inches of amended soil.
- Set the potted plant into the hole to ensure that its root ball is flush with the surrounding grade. Add or subtract soil to create the proper-depth hole.
- Tap the sides of the plastic pot with your hand, turn the pot upside down and extract the rose bush from the pot.
- Gently set the rose bush into the hole. Loosen any matted roots with your fingers.
- Backfill around the rose bush with amended soil. Repeat to plant the other rose bushes.
- Thoroughly water around the base of each rose bush, taking care not to wet the leaves. Water every day for a week, and then apply one gallon per week thereafter.
- Spread 2 inches of bark mulch around each rose bush. Don’t pile the mulch up against the stems.
- As the plant grows, loosely secure it to the fence rails with jute string or Velcro straps. Don’t use wire twist ties.