Question
rose bush
I live in Grand Rapids, MI and have lived in our new house for about a year now. We have a rose-something (bush, climber, tree?) on the side of the house facing West. I don't really know anything about roses, but found the tag still in the ground...it says "Assorted Roses" and is from Meijer! We put up a trellis and it had a few blossoms on it earlier in the spring but we've only seen leaves and thorns since then. There seems to be one main cane that goes straight up and lots of other smaller canes, but I don't even know where to start! We haven't cared for it at all, just left it be and it's probably 8 ft. tall right now. Any suggestions?! I want to prune it, and help it survive our cold Michigan winter, but I just don't know where to begin. Thank you for any help you can give us as first time home-owners and rose-caretakers!
AnswerYour rose is a climber and seems to be doing very well. It just needs a taller trellis or you can spread the canes sideways. They always make supports for climbers too short. Because winter is coming soon, I would cut the rose back even with the top of the trellis. Tie it to the trellis so snow and winter winds won't damage it. Take some soil from another part of the garden and mound it up to 12 inches and this will keep the roots warm. Next spring give it two handfuls of any rose fertilizer and sprinkle it all around the base and then water it in. Do it again in June but no more. The rose will need about a bucket of water every 5 days more if the weather gets really hot. This rose is going to grow way above the trellis so you can make it climb along sideways. Put eye type screws in 2 feet apart, on the edge of the house to the right there in the photo and again in the left corner and then run thick string through them. Then tie the rose canes to them with string. When the canes finally grow to the corner of your house, just cut them back every spring.
