Best Soil for Roses

“What is the best combination of soil/amendments when building a rose garden flower bed?” Question from Nancy of Denton, Texas

Answer: It’s an excellent question. A great part of successful rose growing is getting the soil right. The best soil for roses should have a good balance of porosity and water-holding ability in addition to a slightly acid pH between 6.5 to 7. Basically, roses need good drainage and ample organic matter, so plant them in a raised area with soil that drains well and then add lots of good amendments.

I fortify my soils for roses with Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, which has a lower pH, and Black Gold Garden Compost Blend. The combination of the two is perfect. Before planting my roses, I like to add a 1:1:2 ratio of peat to compost to garden soil.

I also fertilize the soil at planting time. My favorite natural rose food is alfalfa meal, which has the perfect balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for roses. It really supports good growth and flowering. But, this is just one of many commercially available rose fertilizers to try.

Mulch really helps roses during the heat of summer, and I know it gets hot in Texas. My favorite mulches for roses are leaf mulch (chopped, partially composted leaves) or pine straw. Both look sharp and work well.

I also recommend you watch our recent Black Gold Video, Organic Rose Growing in Nine Steps  (below)! I hope this helps!

Happy rose growing, Jessie

 

 

About JESSIE KEITH


Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

Leave a Reply

Content Disclaimer:

This site may contain content (including images and articles) as well as advice, opinions and statements presented by third parties. Sun Gro does not review these materials for accuracy or reliability and does not endorse the advice, opinions, or statements that may be contained in them. Sun Gro also does not review the materials to determine if they infringe the copyright or other rights of others. These materials are available only for informational purposes and are presented “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement or other information is at your own risk. In no event shall Sun Gro Horticulture Distribution, Inc. or any of its affiliates be liable to you for any inaccuracy, error, omission, fact, infringement and the like, resulting from your use of these materials, regardless of cause, or for any damages resulting there from.