Now that the spring pruning is done, it’s time to start feeding the roses their regular diet. As always, make sure you’re watering roses sufficiently.

When and How to Fertilize Roses

You should plan to fertilize your roses in May, June, July, and August, but do not apply fertilizer after August 15th. The roses need to slow down growing and start preparing for winter.

Do not fertilize newly planted roses until after they bloom. If you apply fertilizer to bushes before their roots are well established, you risk doing damage to your bushes.

Established roses like about of a cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer scattered around them and then scratched into the soil. The ground around the roses should be moist when you do this, so it’s a good idea to water well the day before feeding.

After you have scratched in the fertilizer, you should water again.

Watering Roses: Heavy and Often

There are many ways to water. My favorite way of watering is to use a water wand on the end of a hose. It looks like a shower head and the water can be turned on full, but the wand will produce a gentle spray. Roses like a lot of water. At this time of year, if Mother Nature doesnt produce about an inch of water a week, then it would be good to add some from the hose. As the weather gets warmer, the roses will take wore water. Keep the water wand at the base of the plant so the leaves dont get wet. This will help prevent diseases.

There are also drip irrigation systems, leaky hoses and spray nozzles that can be installed in the garden. They can even be hooked up to a timer so water is applied regularly. I like the water wand because while Im standing there I can look over the rose to see how its doing. If anything is developing that needs attention I can get to it right away.

So how much water is an inch of water. Lets imagine a 2 foot by 2 food box that is 1 inch high around a rose bush. If this were filled with water, there would be 576 cubic inches of water in the box. That equals 2.5 gallons of water. To find out how long it takes to deliver 2.5 gallons, mark a bucket at the desired level and time how long it takes to fill. You dont need to be very rigorous about this. This just gives you and idea of how long to water.