hey, sherry, have you tried hanging baskets with ground cover roses or the Fairy? Kordes do some great roses which will ilve all year rouns as long as you top-dress every year.

Sherry, Great to hear there is room for more roses! I have a young red oak I planted when we moved in back in '97 that I need to do the same. There is an art to thinning the canopy that will leave a more graceful sillouitte(sp?)and increase the light penetration. Hard to come by trimmers that will leave your trees not looking chewed up, at least here in rural tx.

LOL, I've been hanging out here too long. When I saw the thread title, the first place that came to mind was the roof, HA!

Yes, lago, you may have been here too long, but I guarantee someone out there with a flat roof is scratching their head right now. Way to think outside the box!

greybird, funny you should say that. DH said he described himself as an "artist". He did a decent job - a whole lot better than the utility company tree trimmers do. AND he didn't damage anything on the ground!!

Campanula, that may not be a bad idea. I have a Red Cascade that is wanting to devour my mailbox. I'll have to think about that.

Sherry

Lagomorphmom and Sherry, I have a flat roof, and believe me, if the cost of converting it to a rose garden weren't so prohibitive, it would have been a done deal! There are so many things to consider though, from structural reinforcements to waterproof membranes and many other issues, that make it an impossible dream for me.

Such a waste of space....

Judith

Well, more sun should equal more roses! Or maybe just better roses!

I have lots of room but NO MORE ENERGY! Or time! And the watering (without sprinkler system) just gets harder and harder. I seriously think I have given myself "tennis wrist" from holding the hose constantly in a certain position and watering (what seems like) acres of pots!

Although none of the above stopped me from placing an order or two recently :)

Lynn

Judith, I knew it. At least you're exploring all possibilities!

Lynn, watering is like talking on the phone for hours - you must switch ears and hands regularly or suffer. I am in the process of putting in a micro sprinkler system. I have the front done except for a couple of emitters. What a pain!! My fingers were almost ruined. The emitters are almost impossible to get into the 1/2" tubing. Then I have the two sides of the back to do and the new yet-to-be-dug bed on the other side of the front.

I hear you when you say NO MORE ENERGY. I used to want to run right out there and get moving. Not anymore. Sunday after I did the last few connections on the sprinkler system (not as quick & easy a job as I thought it would be) I decided to narrow up a gravel area to make it more of a path, making the beds on both sides bigger since I have sun now on both sides. As you guessed, gravel is heavy to rake & move around. It didn't take very long - maybe a couple of hours or less. When I finished, I thought about putting some plants in the ground, but I was so tired, I decided not to. I thought to myself it must be my age slamming me cuz I haven't been out here that long. Then I noticed my arms & shoulders were weak, realized just how big a job I had done, and decided it wasn't my age. I had really worked hard so I was in the house before 4 o'clock - a first.

Think about running some poly tubing by your pots with 1/4" lines and emitters to each pot. It will make your life easier - after the pain of doing it.

Sherry

I love my roses, & I love my trees...

I'd be more likely to dig up some more lawn, or plant 'em in the alley or on the parkway (the strip between sidewalk & street), or inch over onto the neighbor's ground.

You can always adopt a park & create an entire rose garden there, & if you have family buried in a historic cemetary, you can plant antique roses there.

not that I ever gave much thought to this kind of thing...

Sherry, how I would love to have a sprinkler system put it! It is one of the "to do's" that is at the top of my list! But it's one of those things I absolutely don't want to do myself. So I am waiting for the time when I have lots of extra cash just sitting around....ha! My oldest daughter just started college and my youngest daughter is a sophomore in high school so I think I have a ways to go before I have any extra cash!

My pots are in several different areas; I suppose if I put them all together I could do the tubing......I'm not quite sure how that works. I hate to admit this, but when we had the terrible freeze a couple of weeks ago, some potted stuff just got left out......I figured I was culling out the weak (no roses - just other stuff) and would then have less watering to do!

I have always had too much sun but have noticed that certain areas have finally gotten some shade and I now need to change the plantings. Finally a chance to put in some shade plants!

Lynn

Sylvia, I should have made it clear that no trees were harmed (let alone removed) in the making of this sunny spot.

Lynn, I must admit that the parts and pieces of my system cost a lot more than I expected, but thankfully most of it was covered by Christmas money from work. I'm sure I've topped $350 with not much more to buy, hopefully. Hopefully.

Sherry