Bare root roses arriving tomorrow - help! - Page 2

Put crocks in the bottom of the pots no need for anything else, and yes you can trim the roots.

I have just planted a rose into a chimney pot (Worcestershire) but that is set in gravel without a bottom. I would think either gravel or crocks or bit of both. Use John Innes No 3. Need to look on DA web site about roots but I think you can by so much

I had a look in my rose book and it said trim roots and give the tap root a good hard prune that will encourage fiberous roots to grow. Whats the rose called thats going in a pot as it recomends not to plant climbing rambler or shrub roses as they are too vigorus.

Take care Cottontail

It's  a lovely combination you have and I am sure that in a few months time you will begin  to see years of pleasurable and glorious  flowering. Enjoy!

You can plant small climbers and ramblers as I have, if the pot is big and they are well fed and watered. I mixed manure, earth and compost in the pots and topped up with compost and I feed regularly with rose fertiliser. I posted photos once before but here they are again.

 Malvern Hills and Phyllis Bide

The Pilgrim

They are lovely just shows you cant beleive everything the books tell you.

Thank you everyone!  I have very large pots so I think my Shropshire Lads will do ok in them.  They are 8' climbers so just right for my pergola.  Busy-Lizzie, I am inspired by your climbers in pots!  How old were the two around the arch when the photo was taken?

Galest, which is the tap root?  As far as I can remember all the roots are about the same.  I'm still nervous about how much I can safely cut off!

And one more thing - do I need to put a layer of grit into the plant saucer before I stand the pot on it?

The two ramblers were 3 years old. First year little, 2nd year neat and tidy, 3rd year got going! The Pilgrim I think was 2. I also have a Shropshire Lad climber in a pot, but I don't have a photo. I think you can cut off a few inches of the thicker roots. They need the fine fibrous roots for feeding, but if they are babies they may not have many yet. I don't have gravel in my plant saucers because I live in Dordogne and summers can be very hot and dry so I like a bit of water in the saucer. But if I lived in England last summer I think gravel would have been a good idea. You'll probably get a better answer from someone else.

I planted my DA rose, Gertrude Jekyll, against my fence in November and already there are shoots about an inch long.  We havent had any snow at all (not even over the last couple of weeks) and very rarely get a hard frost (live in Cornwall right on the north coast) so hopefully the new growth will be fine. 

As I have planted it as a climber to grow up against a fence I remembered to plant it leaning towards the fence and will look to install the eyes and wire when the weather gets better (and when I can pursuade the hubby to do so - under my supervision of course!). 

Once its established I plan to also grow a large flowered purple clematis up through the rose.  I think the combination of the deep pink with the purple clematis against my fence which is painted a soft sage green will look fab.  Eventually planning to grow it across the fence above a bench to get the most of the scent.

Try Clematis etolie violette.

Managed to plant two more in the ground today, though I did have an anxious moment with one of them as I couldn't dig a hole deeper than 12" before hitting garden rubble and the roots were 15" long!  In desperation I rang David Austin's and asked if it would be ok to have a longer shallower trench and place the roots in a more horizontal position, and she said that would be fine, so, fingers crossed .........

Great - always pays to contact supplier if you are not sure 

I need to plant my remaining 3 Lads in pots today.  I have some crocks (old terracotta plant pot shards) and I have some alpine grit.  Which would you put in the bottom of a pot, and if crocks, does it matter if some are a bit green?

I would use shards, just to keep hole open for drainage, I doubt it matters about the green but you could give them a scrub to make sure.

Bjay 

Not my most successful gardening day ever!  First I drove over to the other side of town to pick up another large plastic pot for one of the Shropshire Lads at B&Q. But they'd run out of matching saucers.  Home via my local GC to pick up some John Innes 3 and look at their saucers - but they didn't have the right size.  Got home and realised the pot was bigger than the other two.  Back to B&Q to exchange it (long wait at tills), then a roundabout way home to go to Homebase and get a matching saucer.  Quick lunch.  Got one Lad planted in first pot and was doing very well with the second one - 3/4 full of mixed compost, when I suddenly realised that I forgot to put the special fungi on the roots .......so yanked the rose out and a lot of the compost and started again.  You'd think it couldn't get any worse...........but then I kicked over the container with the carefully measured out fungi ........ I finally locked up the shed and came in at 5.40....in the dark, and still with one more rose to plant.  Perhaps I'm getting too old for this sort of thing 

Cheer up. It's happens to all of us. I have forgotten the fungi stuff and had to start again and last time I planted rose spilled it all over my pink wheelbarrow,

Just think be worth it in long run 

Expect to see photos of your efforts in the summer

Bjay

Bless you Rosa!

I only put a very thin layer of Alpine grit at the bottom of my pots as I was afraid that if I put any more then the water might not drain through the very small holes.  Then yesterday we had loads of rain followed by overnight snow, and today I find that the saucers the pots are standing on are full to the brim with water.  Will this be bad for my roses and if so, should I get rid of that standing water by soaking it up with a towel or something?