Question
I have a row of standard rose planted in my front garden, under a very big tree. Although not planted directly under, as the roses are in my garden, and the tree is on the nature stipt, it is close enough to only allow the roses to get the afternoon sun only.  They have not bloomed very well this year, and have had very little to no show at all. My question is do I need to water alot more and feed alot more because the big tree is robbing all water and food, thus not allowing the roses to bloom. Or could it be that the soil is just not good.

Thanks

Sandra


PS: I live in Essendon - Victoria

Answer
Hi, Sandra--while it might be more challenging, I think we can get your roses to perform better this year.  The first thing to do is to give them a good pruning if it has not been done in a while.  Prune out any dead wood, any "twiggy" growth, and any canes that grow into the center of the bush.  Test the soil, especially the pH level.  Roses like a reading of 6.3-6.8, or slightly acidic. Your garden center probably has a relatively inexpensive pH meter which will be easy to use. If your reading is lower than this, work in a cup of pelletized or pulverized lime around each bush.  If it is higher, work in the same amount of soil sulfur or iron sulfate.  Enrich your soil with well-rotted manure or compost.  You will indeed need to fertilize more.  I would recommend using fertilizer spikes (if you can't find them especially for roses, use the ones for fruit trees).  The organic "meals" are good--bone, blood, fish, cottonseed, alfalfa.  If you buy them separately, use proportionately more bone meal than the others.  Rock phosphate is also organic and will help build the root systems.  Old bananas or old banana peels will increase the potassium which will help the blooming.  You can even make a (rather smelly) tea out of the alfalfa meal and some liquid iron to use as a supplement to the solid fertilizers.  Find a recipie at www.ars.org.  (American Rose Society).

You may need to prune the limbs of the tree back a bit if at all possible to allow for a little more sun.  As for watering, I like to use a soaker hose in your situation.  Depending on the amount of rainfall, I turn it on for about 45 minutes every other day during the growing season.  You can hand water also with a water wand--on a fairly gentle flow, I count 45 seconds or so for each bush, 2-3 times weekly.  Adjust as needed for really dry or really wet periods.

You may also want to visit the Canadian Rose Society at www.mirror.org/groups/crs.  There are lots of friendly folks on the rose forums at GardenWeb.com, and you can always reach me here!
Margarett in Memphis