Create a rose bed – planting plan and accompanying plants

ADR roses have been tested and rated as very good, especially with regard to their winter hardiness and their susceptibility to diseases. The roses awarded this seal of approval are well suited for home gardens. But there are also other healthy varieties. When buying, always pay attention to the susceptibility to disease. Anyone who buys on the Internet, which is a good thing especially with bare-root roses, can find out what it looks like from the provider. The susceptibility to black and powdery mildew is usually indicated, as is the winter hardiness. You can find out everything exactly. I’m usually not a big fan of ordering plants over the Internet, but I’ve had very good experiences with roses. I can recommend: www.kordes-rosen.com.

Requirements for a beautiful and healthy rose bed

The most important thing for a rose bed to thrive is the right location. If the roses are wrong, no care is of any use. The soil is also a prerequisite for growth and prosperity. However, the soil can be changed accordingly, which is much more difficult when it comes to the location.

• Location as sunny as possible
• A place that is somewhat sheltered from the wind is cheap, but air movement is also important. With a slight wind movement, the rose dries faster after rain.
• Soil must be well ventilated
• Roses like nutrient-rich soil. They are heavy consumers
• The soil must not be too wet or too dry and should not dry out too quickly after watering.
• Definitely not waterlogging, roses cannot tolerate that at all.

Stony ground is also not suitable. The roots don’t like that. They are prevented from spreading.

Bare-rooted or potted roses for the rose bed?

You can take both types with a clear conscience. I have already planted both and everything worked out wonderfully. Bare-root roses have the advantage that they are inexpensive. However, they are best bought in autumn. The rhizomes are taken out of the ground just before they are sold. You can also buy them in spring. But they spent the whole winter in a rose warehouse, not in the ground. Even if the conditions there are very good, something else is planted. Container roses are available almost all year round and can also be planted that way.
Often the selection of bare-root roses is simply larger than that of container roses, in any case on the Internet.

Prepare the rose bed

The soil of the entire bed should be loosened well. In the case of light soils, working with the sow tooth is usually sufficient. Heavy soils, on the other hand, have to be loosened deeply. At the same time, a little sand or compost can be mixed in. In any case, stones and any weeds must be removed. Compost must not be used when planting. There are numerous nutrients in it. These remove water from the rose, which in turn means that it gets stressed and does not grow optimally or grow at all.

• Dig the planting hole 40 cm deep and 40 cm wide.
• Loosen the excavated earth with peat or rose earth
• The ideal is to put two handfuls of lava stones in the bottom of the planting hole
• Sandy soil is improved with soil granulate or bentonite flour, so that the water retention capacity increases.
• Do not incorporate compost or fertilizer!

Preparing bare-root and container
roses Before planting bare-root roses, the shoots and roots are cut back. It is also important to put the roses in water for several hours so that the roots can soak up properly, preferably 24 hours. The ideal is to have the entire rose under water. Roots and shoots are shortened to 20 cm from the grafting point. Do not leave the shoots any longer!
Container roses are also dipped. The entire root ball is placed in a bucket of water until no more air bubbles rise, which is usually the case after a few minutes.

Create a rose bed

The best time to plant is in autumn, from the beginning of October to the end of November. Then there are fresh bare-root roses. When properly planted, the rhizomes usually have no problem getting through the winter. Bare-root roses can still be planted in spring, but they develop more slowly, usually bloom later and need significantly more water. Container roses can be put into the ground all year round, except when there is frost.

• It is essential to ensure that there is sufficient spacing between the plants! Bed and bush roses in particular need a lot of space. Hybrid tea roses, on the other hand, can be planted more densely, they develop rather narrowly.
• Planting distance for hybrid and bed roses – 40 to 50 cm
• For bush and climbing roses – between 1 and 1.5 m
• For romantic and historical roses – 1.2 to 2 m
• Ground cover roses – 50 to 80 cm
• Miniature roses – 30 cm
• Climbing roses – 80 cm
• Rambler roses – at least 2 m
• Be sure to note! When you’ve taken a rose out of the ground, don’t plant a new one! If you do, then the floor has to be replaced extensively and deeply!
• The planting hole must be sufficiently deep. If you put the bare-root rose in the hole, no part of the root should be bent. The roots don’t like compression!
• Container roses are usually planted as they were in the container.
• The planting hole should be twice the size of the planter.
• Improve the excavated soil with humus. Do not use compost!
• It is important that the grafting point is below the surface of the earth, regardless of whether it is potted or bare-root roses. It should be covered 5 to 10 cm deep.
• Fill in the soil and press down on it. It is important not to step on it, otherwise the soil will become too solidified.
• Water vigorously so that the bottom settles.
• Pile up soil, about 10 cm high. This piling up protects the rose from drying out, from frost and too much sunlight and thus from burns in winter. Also pile up in spring as protection from sun and wind.
• The rose is left piled up in spring until it has sprouted about 10 cm.
• A casting ring is ideal to start with

Rose companion plants

Roses look great on their own. But their beauty can still be emphasized with appropriate companion plants. These do not only have the task of concealing the rose bushes that are shedding from below in the course of a season, they also reduce the risk of diseases. In pure rose beds, diseases spread much faster. Biodiversity is much better there, it builds up barriers. Lavender is particularly popular as a companion plant, its essential oils keep aphids away, which are known to feast on roses.

You have to pay attention to the planting distance. It is not for nothing that the rose is the queen of plants. It does not tolerate any direct competition. Therefore, especially with plants that form runners, leave enough space. Clumpy growing accompanying perennials are ideal. With sterile varieties, the annoying removal of seedlings is no longer necessary.

It is absolutely important that the rose plants have the same location requirements as the roses themselves. So they should like the sun and plenty of warmth and permeable, nutrient-rich soil. Low-growing rose varieties should not be planted next to perennials with strong roots. The perennials should also not tower over the rose in height. She needs air to breathe.

• Larkspur – especially highlights nostalgic roses. You have to be careful that the perennial does not tower over the rose. Larkspur brings the color blue to the rose bed, regardless of whether it is sky blue, gentian blue or dark blue. But I find the white and pink varieties more harmonious.
• Foxglove – blooms during the main growing season of roses and carries mysterious candle blossoms. White foxgloves look particularly beautiful and romantic with single-blooming white roses with a yellow center. However, pure white thimble actually goes with every rose.
• Feinstrahlastern – are very easy-care perennials that give roses excellent support and bloom for a long time, especially if they are cut back after the first pile. In terms of color, white varieties go with almost all roses and purple or pink asters go with pink and pink roses. Purple-colored fine blasters are the ideal complement for yellow roses.
• Lilies – Lilies have about the same demands on the soil and light as roses, which is why they go together so well. An incredible number of color combinations are possible, whether tone-on-tone or very high-contrast.
• Bluebells – go well with roses, depending on the variety, color and height. White varieties look very elegant, whether combined with roses of the same color or of a different color.
• Lady’s mantle – emphasizes the color effect of many roses with its subtle lime green. This plant looks particularly beautiful under standard or cascade roses.
• Clematis – the companion plant for climbing roses. However, there are also clematis that go well with other types of roses. The color combinations are a matter of taste. I like it more tone on tone, but there are also very nice contrasting combinations. About 1 meter of space should be left between rose and clematis, because their soil requirements are different. With climbing roses, the rose is granted a lead of about 1 to 2 years because it grows more slowly than the clematis.
• Switchgrass or red feather bristle grass – grasses are ideal companions for roses. They are graceful and fine and not intrusive. You shouldn’t choose varieties that are too tall or too big, otherwise the roses will perish.
• Meadow speedwell – white varieties harmonize perfectly with colored roses and bring calm to a bed
• Candelabra-Speedwell – long flowering time from July to September, very delicate, high stems with long flower candles in delicate colors, compact growth, beautiful structure in borders, works best in larger groups, very nice with bed roses
• Elfenraute – has the same requirements as roses in terms of location and soil, which is always a good prerequisite for harmonious coexistence
• Kitchen sage – gray-leaved plants such as sage go particularly well with dark-blooming roses. You have to pay attention to the planting distance. Roses need a lot of fertilizer, but sage doesn’t. 30 cm space between the plants is therefore recommended.
• Turkish poppy – early flowering and therefore goes well with early flowering roses, there are many varieties of color, so that you can find a matching or competing color for every rose. You have to be careful with the size. Poppy seeds grow quite tall and shouldn’t outgrow the roses.
• Columbine – a very good companion for early rose varieties. You have to be careful because numerous varieties breed and spread widely. It’s best to use a sterile variety.
• Phlox – blooms during the main flowering time of roses. Many colors and heights and many still with fragrance, very nice too often non-smelling roses
• Autumn anemones – use varieties with a long flowering time, must be stable, often not quite as sunny, so pay attention to the right rose and location, graceful plant and very beautiful rose companion Caution, some multiply quickly.

Planting plan for a rose bed

Roses look good in front of an evergreen wall, such as that made by a yew hedge. Usually a rose bed is laid out freely on an unplanted area so that the plants get enough sun from all sides. Box hedges are suitable as a border of a rose bed for formal, but also for freely planned farm and cottage gardens. The hedge is kept low, about 30 to 40 cm high. It is important that the colors of the roses and the accompanying shrubs match. I personally like scented roses. These are ideal if the rose bed is in the immediate vicinity of a seat.

You can choose between shrub, bed, climbing, noble, standard and ground cover roses. I like roses that bloom more often than roses that bloom once, but that’s a matter of taste.

Suggestion for a small, symmetrical rose garden

The center of the square piece, which has the dimensions 5m x 3.50, forms a water basin, also square and 2.50 m long and 0.80 cm wide. It is not placed in the very center. In the background there is a privacy screen that separates the property from the neighboring garden. All plants and elements are arranged symmetrically around this formal basin. A bench will be placed on the wider long side of the pool, very close to the privacy fence. A climbing rose of the ‘Hella’ (white) variety is planted to the right and left of the bench. At the corner of the garden, exactly on this side, almost next to the two roses, but at a sufficient distance, there are two more climbing roses, namely the variety ‘Kordes Rose Aloha’ (orange). The four climbing roses need scaffolding. A pergola is suitable, in inconspicuous light gray or almost white. The roses can climb up the four posts of the pergola.

A basic structure of evergreen plants is required so that something remains green in winter and revitalizes the area. So you put 1 dwarf sugar loaf spruce (Picea glaucha ‘Sander’s Blue’) between the two climbing roses, one on each side. Sufficient planting distance from the roses is important. High catnip, especially the variety Nepeta manchuriensis ‘Manchu Blue’, is suitable for intermediate planting and for loosening up. In addition, 4 boxwood balls are planted at the front, outer corners, 2 at an angle. You use two different sizes, that works better.

A ground cover rose ‘Sedana’ is attached to the four corners of the water basin and to the front corners of the bench, i.e. a total of 6 of the yellow roses. On one long side of the basin there are 2 pillow asters (Aster dumosus ‘Blauer Gletscher’) on the outside and 10 lady’s mantle plants on the inside. So the area in front of the bench, up to the pool, is full. Opposite, on the narrower side of the pool, there is also lady’s mantle, also 10 plants. On the short sides of the basin there is a pillow aster per side and a daylily ((Hemerocallis hybrid ‘Maikönigin’) in the middle and another catnip on the outside. Lady’s mantle can be planted between the boxwood balls Weeping tree roses in the colors yellow or orange. Daylilies also come together with coneflowers (Rudbeckia fulgida var. Sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’) in front of the dwarf sugar loaf spruce. No more plants are needed.

Conclusion
Roses are ideal garden plants. If they are in the right place and in the right soil, they are not that difficult to cultivate. When creating a rose bed, it is important to select the appropriate species and varieties. Only healthy roses should be used. How you create such a bed is a matter of taste. Some swear by pure rose beds, others find them boring. It is important that the requirements of all plants are about the same, otherwise such a symbiosis will not work. Otherwise you can let your imagination run wild. Whatever you like is possible.