Roses: successfully planting in pots and as bare roots

When to plant roses?

• Container-grown roses

Roses sold in containers are available and establish over a longer period. You can plant them all year round, provided you take care during the weeks following their planting. The shrub takes around 8 weeks to root in spring or autumn, so it needs regular watering. During very hot months, establishment is more difficult, so you will need to cut the plants back quite hard and water them more.

Container-grown rose

• Bare-root roses

Lifted in October to make them available for sale, these roses must be planted from November to the end of March, avoiding periods of frost.

Bare-root roses

How to prepare the soil for planting a rose?

Although roses prefer good, slightly clayey garden soil, they will tolerate almost any type of soil. It is nevertheless advisable to improve and enrich the soil.

• Sandy, porous soil should be improved by adding organic matter (well-rotted manure, compost…) which should be thoroughly mixed into the soil.
• In excessively heavy soil, drainage must be improved. Although roses need plenty of water, they do not like stagnant moisture, which suffocates their roots, or very compacted soil, which hinders the development of their rootlets. In both cases, it is essential to improve water flow and aerate the soil by adding organic matter such as compost, leaf mould or gravel, and pouzzolana.

What matters for a rose is that it has loose, well-aerated soil rich in organic matter, where its young roots can easily find their way. This is why you should mix a good homemade compost or well-rotted manure into the soil surrounding the roots.

How to plant a container-grown rose?

Rose bushes sold in plastic containers are not meant to stay as they are! You must replant them in your garden or in a larger pot.

To plant a rose bush sold in a container:

• Soak the rose bush in its pot in a large basin of water until no more bubbles rise to the surface.
• Using a spade, dig a hole 40cm long, wide and deep. Remove the pot carefully so as not to break up the rootball.
  

  Carefully remove the rootball from its pot.

• Place a stake over the hole to indicate the soil level.
• Position the plant so that the graft union is slightly above the stake, or plant it so that only 2 to 3cm of soil is added over the rootball.
• Backfill and water thoroughly to fill any air pockets.

In dry weather, make sure you water regularly, using one watering can per week to help the plant establish roots.

• Tip

Roots may be growing out through the drainage holes of your container-grown rose bush. As it is impossible to remove it from the pot without damaging the precious root hairs, cut the container open with secateurs to preserve as many roots as possible.

How to plant a bare-root rose?

As soon as you receive your bare-root roses, immerse them completely in a basin of water to rehydrate the tissues. Ideally, plant them the same day.

You may receive your roses on a day when it is impossible for you to plant them. Don’t panic: you can heel them in until you are ready to plant them in their permanent position.

Heeling in: to create a temporary trench, use a spade to dig a furrow 30cm wide and just as deep, in a shaded spot sheltered from the wind. Place the roses in it close together and at a slight angle to reduce their exposure to the wind. Cover them with garden soil or potting compost, taking care to work this material in between the roots to prevent air pockets from forming. The mixture should come up to the roses’ graft unions and then be properly firmed down. If it does not rain, water the soil lightly to keep the roots sufficiently moist. They can remain heeled in for 3 to 4 days.

On planting day:

• Start by ‘dressing’ the roots. This involves cutting off, with clean pruning shears, any roots that may have been damaged during lifting. These clean cuts help the rose establish.
• Next, shorten the branches of your rose if necessary, bearing in mind that the above-ground part should be equivalent in size to the underground part.
• Mix soil, water and compost (or well-rotted manure) in a basin to make a thick slurry called ‘pralin’. To find out all about root pralinage, see our dedicated advice sheet: Coating the roots of trees and shrubs with pralin.
• Dip the rose in it up to the collar. This operation helps the young plant establish successfully.
  

  Root pralinage is an operation that should not be overlooked when planting roses.

• Using a spade, dig a hole 40cm wide and deep, breaking up the soil thoroughly.
• Add a spadeful of good homemade compost or well-rotted manure to the excavated soil and mix it in. You can also add a little crushed horn, which breaks down slowly (over 2 or 3 years) in the soil and provides an excellent long-term food reserve. It should be incorporated in a good quantity at planting time. To find out all about organic fertilisers, see our advice sheet: Crushed horn, dried blood, guano… What are they used for?
• Place your rose in the hole, taking care to spread the roots out well. Make sure they do not turn upwards.
• Lay a stick across the top of the hole to indicate the soil level.
• Start filling the hole with soil while keeping the rose at the correct height, with the graft union (swelling) slightly above the stick.
  

  The graft union should be slightly above soil level.

• Once the roots are covered with soil, firm it down around the rose with your hands to form a small basin that will hold water. Check that the shrub is firmly anchored by pulling it gently. It should not move.
• Water thoroughly.
  

  Thorough watering helps drive out all the air bubbles.

• Cover the graft union with a good layer of fallen leaves or straw.

Protecting the graft union with a good layer of leaves.

Throughout the first year, keep the soil slightly but consistently moist.

How to plant rambling roses and standard roses?

• Rambling roses (lianas)

Start by probing the soil with an iron rod to find a spot free from large roots. Take care not to plant it at the foot of an evergreen, as the rose will lack light. Plant it as explained above, depending on whether it is a container-grown rose or supplied as bare roots. Rambling roses should be planted 50cm to 1m away from their support and slightly tilted towards it.

Wooden ladder used to guide a rambling rose towards the tree.

• Standard roses

When planting standard roses, remember to drive a sturdy stake into the bottom of the planting hole. Do this before positioning the rose to avoid damaging the roots. Where possible, choose a bare-root rose so that you do not have to push the stake through the rootball. Take care not to tighten the ties too much, as this could cause a constricting swelling to form later.

A stake is essential for standard and weeping roses.

These roses are varieties grafted onto a stem of varying height, provided by a vigorous “wild” rose which serves as the rootstock. The graft union must be protected from frost with fleece. You will also need to remove all suckers that form on the stem.

How to plant potted roses?

Choose a compact variety with slow growth, which is better suited to growing in a container, and match the pot to the rose’s eventual size. Allow 30 cm in diameter and depth for a miniature rose, 40 cm for a dwarf rose and 50 cm for a classic bush rose or a small climbing rose.

The pot must have drainage holes to allow excess water to escape. Preferably choose a terracotta pot, whose porosity benefits the roots. To improve drainage, place 5 cm of gravel, broken pottery, clay pebbles or pouzzolana in the bottom of the pot.

To obtain a good growing medium, make a mixture composed of:

• 1/3 garden soil (failing that, a good potting compost will do)
• 1/3 good-quality potting compost, ideally rose potting compost
• 1/3 well-rotted compost or manure

Place the rose in your pot and fill it with your mixture right to the top, so that the graft union is level with the surface. Water generously.

Bear in mind that roses grown in pots require more attention than those grown in the ground. Regular watering is necessary. However, take care not to drown your rose. Finally, the only food the rose can receive is what you provide: apply fertiliser regularly during its growing period. Find out when and how to fertilise your roses: Rose fertiliser.

Remove all faded flowers so that the rose does not become exhausted producing fruit.

Questions gardeners often ask

• One of my rose bushes has died, and I would like to plant another one in the same place. Is this possible?

Avoid planting a rose in a place recently occupied by another rose. Many roses release toxins into the soil to keep other roses away from their territory. If you have no other choice, we recommend replacing the soil to a minimum width and depth of 50 cm.

Virginie’s tip: I have tested this myself, and adding mycorrhizas also helps with establishment.

• I have heard that when planting, you should bury the graft union of your rose.

Whether or not to bury the graft union is a controversial subject. In the past, specialists recommended positioning the graft union slightly above the soil. Today, they increasingly recommend burying it to prevent the development of latent buds and suckers on the rootstock. When the rootstock is buried in this way, the grafted plant may develop its own roots. Some consider this nonsensical, since this practice removes the purpose of the rootstock, which is there to act as an intermediary between the soil and the grafted plant, thereby allowing better adaptation between the two. This argument seems perfectly sound, especially when the soil is unsuitable for roses, for example a very chalky soil. In this case, only using a suitable rootstock makes it possible to grow roses successfully. Moreover, many varieties lack the vigour to do without the supply of sap from the rootstock. However, when you have good soil for roses, it may be beneficial to allow the grafted plant to grow on its own roots. This prevents suckers and considerably increases the shrub’s longevity. Some rose growers therefore recommend burying the graft union by 5 to 10 cm. In regions subject to severe frost, the graft union ends up buried, which helps to provide better protection against the cold.