Containers can add a totally new dimension to your garden. The reasons for growing plants in containers are many. A lack of space is a strong motivation. If you happen to live in an apartment or flat with no garden to call your own, a shrub in a container can offer you an opportunity to flex those green fingers. And if you're intent on growing a shrub, why not grow a rose?
There are many reasons why growing roses in containers may be an attractive option. Lack of space can be a strong motivation. If you have a dull area that could stand brightening up with some color added but you have a problem - no soil! A container might be the answer.
Containers can also bring the garden to your patio, your deck or even a balcony or terrace and if they’re combined with some trellis, they can offer an element of height too. Mobility can also be an issue. Here, I'm thinking of the disabled and those confined to wheelchairs. Containers offer them an opportunity to get up close and personal with a plant, and what better plant than a fragrant rose? Therapists have demonstrated how gardeners who find it difficult to work at ground level can continue to garden with containerized plants if they are positioned at tabletop height.
Of course, not all roses are suitable for growing in containers simply because many of them are just too vigorous. Can you imagine trying to confine a rampant Paul's Himalayan musk rose to a pot, no matter how large the container. It wouldn't work, and it's certainly not practical.
Realizing that not all roses are suitable candidates for containers, it's for us to choose wisely. Patio roses are an obvious choice, as they've been bred with containers in mind. Miniature roses are also an obvious choice, as are the climbing miniatures. Miniature roses are best in large pots where compost to a depth of 9 inches is available, whereas patio roses require a depth of 12 inches of compost.
If you really do want a climbing or rambling rose, you can consider one of the less vigorous ones such as David Austin's 'A Shropshire lad', grown as a pillar because this will be content in a pot that offers a depth of between 14 to 18 inches.
The best compost to use, consists of a mixture comprising a third John Innes type loam to a third well rotted garden compost and the final third, well rotted cow manure. Add to this a handful of blood fish and bone supplement, remembering that container grown roses will deplete their compost of its nutrients very quickly.
Using a container with a diameter of no less than 18 inches, fill the bottom one inch with pebbles to aid drainage, and then fill the container two thirds full with the compost mixture. Place the roots of the rose on a small pyramid of compost in the center of the pot, and making sure the roots are well spread, continue to fill the pot to the top. The final depth of the rose should be such that the grafted union is two inches below the surface. Raise the pot off the ground to help drainage and water well.
Position the rose where it will get at least six hours of sunlight, but try to shade the pot itself, maybe with other plants. An area where there will be a slight breeze is best as this will discourage powdery mildew. Feed the rose with a granular fertilizer each spring and then several times during the summer but no later than July as this will encourage soft growth that will be prone to frost damage.
Keith Berwick is a rose growing enthusiast who has been growing roses both professionally and for pleasure for over 40 years and enjoys helping others to get started in this rewarding hobby. For more great information on growing roses in containers, visit www.rosecaretoptips.com
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