Month: August 2025

1. Choose Beginner-Friendly Varieties

• Start with shrub roses, floribundas, Knock Out, Drift or Oso Easy roses.
• Look for varieties marked as disease resistant such as ‘Carefree Beauty’ or ‘Oso Easy’.

2. Pick the Right Location

• Ensure the spot gets atleast 6 hours of direct sun daily.
• Choose an area with good airflow, to prevent disease
• Avoid spots with heavy soggy soil.

3. Prepare the Soil

• Amend heavy clay with compost or sand to improve drainage
• Dig holes about 18 inches wide and deep.
• Mix in compost or aged manure. to enrich the soil.

4. Plant Your Roses: For bare-root roses:

• Soak in water, for a few hours before planting
• Create a soil mound in the planting hole.
• Spread roots over the mound fill halfway, water. then fill completely

For container roses:

• Remove from the pot.
• Loosen roots and plant at the same soil level,
• Water throughly

5. Water Correctly

• Water deeply once or twice a week.
• Use a hose at the base to keep leaves dry
• If your tap water is heavily chlorinated or contains hard minerals. consider using a simple filtration system to improve plant health. Learn more about the breakdown of how a water filter can help (click here)
• In hot weather water more often if soil is dry a few inches down

6. Feed Your Roses

• Fertilize three times per season:
  • Early spring when new growth appears
  • After the first bloom
  • Midsummer (if still blooming)
• Use balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) or organic options like compost tea
• Always water before, and after fertilizing.

7. Prune and Deadhead
   Prune in late winter or early spring:

• Remove dead damaged, or weak canes
• Open up the center for airflow.
• Shape like a vase.

During the season:

• Snip spent blooms just above the first set of five leaves.

8. Apply Mulch

• Add a 2 to 3 inch layer of organic mulch such as bark or compost
• Keep mulch a few inches, away from the base of the plant.

9. Watch for Pests and Disease

• Common pests: aphids beetles
• Blast with water or use insecticidal soap.
• Check regularly for black spot or mildew. Use fungicides if needed.

10. Protect in Winter

• Stop feeding in late summer to help roses harden off.
• After first frost pile mulch around the base.
• In colder zones cover with burlap or rose cones

If you’ve got a rose that actually does well in your yard quietly, without fuss it’s worth trying to grow more of it. Whether it’s a variety you like or one passed down from someone you miss, taking cuttings is one way to keep it going.

Spring and early summer are best for softwood cuttings. These are the flexible green stems just below faded flowers. You can also try semi-hardwood in late summer, or hardwood in winter (Softer ones usually root quicker.)

Instructions

Cut just under a node. Aim for a 4 to 8 inch stem with three to five nodes. Remove the bloom and all but the top leaf or two. Wound the base a little by scraping or slicing the bottom inch. That helps trigger roots. You can dip the end in hormone powder, but skipping it works too.

Place the cutting in a pot filled with half perlite, half potting mix. Water it. Cover with a clear bag or jar to keep in the moisture. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Shade helps (so does patience, hehe)

Some cuttings root in a few weeks, while others don’t show any promise. Check now and then, if one rots, toss it. If one roots, great.

Look for signs like new leaves or roots poking out the drainage holes. When it’s strong enough, pot it up or plant it out. Give it 9 to 12 months before expecting much. (remember, patience again)

This doesn’t need to be exact. You don’t need a greenhouse or fancy tools, all you need is just pruners, a pot, and some time. Take a few cuttings and see what sticks. Some will fail. Some won’t, just get yourself in the feedback loop.

And when one finally takes, it’s enough. A small win from something you already had.

Try again next season if you need to.

All the best

Want more roses? You’ve got two solid options: cuttings or grafting. One’s fast and direct. The other’s a bit more involved. Let’s break it down so you can get started.

Cuttings

Benefits: Cuttings are quick and simple.

• Grab a softwood stem just under a faded bloom in late spring.
• Semi-hardwood in late summer and hardwood in winter also work—just slower.
• Prep your spot first. (preferrably use a tray with perlite and coarse sand)
• Cut early while the plant’s still hydrated. RootBoost helps, but it’s not essential.

For more insights, see my full guide to growing roses.

Slice each stem into sections with four nodes. Keep just one leaf at the top. Dip the end, press it into the mix, cover with a bottle or bag. Mist to keep things moist. Some cuttings root in two weeks. Others won’t. That’s fine—take several.

Grafting

Grafting’s more technical but powerful. In the UK, most roses are grafted onto Rosa laxa. It gives the rose a stronger base and controls aggressive varieties like rugosa. Here’s how it works: make a T-shaped cut in a one-year-old rootstock, insert a bud, clip it, and cut back in spring. That bud takes over.

Spot rootstock regrowth by checking leaf color, thorn direction, and stem pattern.

Tip for Rosa Laxa: leaves look silver, thorns hook down, and stems shift from green to brown with pale streaks.

Don’t clip those shoots, rip them out at the base to stop regrowth.

Summary

Cuttings give you the original rose, rooted on its own. Grafting builds a stronger plant by pairing two parts together. Choose based on the plant, your time, and what result you’re after.

For more insights, see my full guide to growing roses.

Try both. One’s fast. One’s tough. Either way, you’re building a better garden. Go you!!