My rose bushes hardly grew into bushes, so puny help.

9 years ago

Last year I planted a row of rose bushes specifically not choosing hybrid teas. I was hoping from stories and pictures they would get to be large sturdy shrubs getting bigger each year. I watered sprayed and fertilized last year with little reward and black spot making me remove most of the leaves.

I was determined to try for the next year. Cut the canes back and waited til spring. Due to the harsh winter I had to cut the dead canes off almost to the ground on most. They did start growing back and I fertilized and sprayed again. They started getting buds but then many did not open and the leaves are all bubbly and crinkled. It's July and I've only got two roses off 6 plants so far. The plants are only 8-12 inches tall. Hardly what I'd call a bush.

Now I'm using bioneem oil and bayer rose feed and a handful of buds on two plants seem to be coming in. They get morning sun and afternoon shade and have plenty of air around them. I'm in zone 5.

Should I give up or does it take longer than 2 years to establish rose bushes? They are in such a large area I'd hoped they'd get big. They just look so pathetic right now.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

Kippy
9 years ago
What roses are they?

Do you have a photo?

I am not from your zone but hopefully some one near by can help you out.
seil zone 6b MI
9 years ago
You made a mistake by cutting them back last fall. In your zone you should not prune your roses in the fall. Wait until spring. The roses store nutrients in the canes and you cut that supply off when you pruned them. That being said, last year was a particularly bad winter and you probably would have lost most of the cane anyway. Nothing you can do about that. We all started out with shorter than normal roses this spring. They'll need time to recuperate and rebuild their structures. Knowing what roses you have will also help us to determine how large and bushy you can expect them to get. Roses can take from 3 to 5 years to fully mature so be patient.

As for the puckered leaves we really would need to see a photo of them to be able to diagnose what's going on. Why are you using the Bioneem oil? Do you have a bug infestation? If not then you don't need it. If you do not have a specific insect that you have correctly identified and are using the correct product for that bug, you could be killing off beneficial insects instead. That could set you up for an even worse problem later on. Only use insecticide when you have a bug, know exactly what bug it is and determine the correct insecticide to use for that bug. Not all insecticides work on all bugs. For now I would keep them well watered and fertilize them following the instructions on the fertilizer carefully and be patient.
Related Discussions
Help please! Garden layout for 60 rose bushes (pictures & long)
Q
Comments (19)
Thank you all for such thought-provoking comments. They are really helping me work through this undertaking! Sandy, all of your info is appreciated, and I especially liked your comments, "Your land will actually speak to you" and "The right plant will present itself to you when you're at a nursery sometime." I know these are true, and I need to not be in such a hurry! Your spacing and color info is very helpful, but I have a couple more questions (for greenhaven, also). I've seen lots of pictures of perennials mixed in with roses, or a clematis twining through a rose bush. Doesn't this make it harder to care for and prune the roses, and doesn't it limit the air circulation? I have 3 Carefree Wonders that look gorgeous by themselves. Can I plant them closer together since they are the same rose? I have 3 Quietness (very lovely pale pink) and 3 Winnipeg Parks (a pretty red that looks beautiful with the Quietness). I have other contrasting and/or blending of 3 or 4 single bushes that look good together IMO. Is it possible to have multiple focal point groups, separated by low evergreens or green perennials in the space I have and have it look good? I really like informal gardens more than formal, especially with our setting. I've seen lots of pictures of parts of gardens with roses, or formal rose gardens, but I've not seen any plans showing predominantly rose gardens, interplanted with other perennials. Any ideas where I could look at such plans for roses? greenhaven, DH nixed the manure, so I'll put peat in the planting hole in the 12" of top soil. Thanks for the specific info! sunnyrose, thanks for the heads up on the Roundup. I'll check into it further. alisande, thanks for the pic of the large spruce. This, with greenhavens warning, motivates me to go back out and more carefully look where the sun will fall when our spruce is mature. We got our estimate for building a wall today, so we've decided to bite the bullet and do it. One more thing, any opinions on whether I should have structures for my climbing roses mentioned earlier? Or do you think I'll be ok trying them as very large shrubs in the more open background? Anne
...See More
Questions on winterizing my rose bushes
Q
Comments (11)
I've looked all over these bushes--no indication of any type of bug/worm/mite. The leaves have little yellow spots on the front. When you look at the underside of the leaf--it has orange/red spots (like rust), but they are not raised spots. Rust can happen with cool, moist conditions. In Milwaukee, we have had very cool nights almost all summer long and lots of rain. Ripe weather for rust. I used to cut my bushes way down by beginning of December for probably most of the years I've lived here-- I want to say I "harsh pruned' (because that was how I was told to do it) for at least 15 years. Over the last number of years I have waited to prune til Spring. To be perfectly honest, I don't notice the roses doing better by waiting to prune til Spring.
...See More
Can I train my rose bush?
Q
Comments (11)
That's a good point, ratdog. A rose that has more room to spread out is more likely to be encouraged to spread out. My neighbor around the corner has had 4 roses planted in about a 7-8 in. wide space next to the house with the driveway on the other side. I always wondered how those roses, literally squished up against the wall, got enough water and food to survive, but with time, I realized that she also had the tallest HTs I'd ever seen in this area--with little space available, they were encouraged to grow UP and UP. Evidently from what the others say, you can't rid that rose of its tendency towards lankiness, but if it were planted --say, 2 ft-- from the wall, you might not be giving it encouragement to become even more lanky. Just an idea. Kate This post was edited by dublinbay on Sat, Dec 28, 13 at 16:27
...See More
Green leaves falling off rose bush. HELP!!
Q
Comments (13)
Sounds like Dr Huey to me. Get rid of it and replace it with a repeat bloomer suitable for your local environment. Ask neighbours what grows well for them if you are not sure. If you like Dr Huey, cut it right back after blooming so that it puts out flowering canes.:-)
...See More
buford
9 years ago
If the roses had blackspot and lost all their leaves, they would not be able to generate enough energy to bloom. Instead of bioneem oil, you need to use a fungicide to prevent black spot. The curly leaves could be from the bioneem oil if you use it at too strong a strenght. Also, organic feed is better than chemical feed. Rose Tone is a good one.

This winter was bad, and the spring wasn't great. I am in zone 7 and I still have roses that I've had to cut back because of winter damage. You have a much shorter growing period. I would be a bit more patient.
Hrose
9 years ago
what type of soil do you have? did you amend it before planting? I always use triple mix 25L bag and mix it into the soil about 3 ft wide 3 ft deep then I plant the rose and it takes off like a beanstock

I never bother spraying my roses for black spot its a battle I end up losing anyway so why bother most of my roses are resistant anyway blackspot is a natural thing that comes with roses especially HTs

last thing if you want big shrubs buy roses that are hardy to your zone at least zone 4 I live in zone 6b and most of my roses except for the HTs are hardy to zone 3 that way I never have to worry about die back during winter
jacqueline9CA
9 years ago
I agree with all of the above. Since these were just planted last year, and you chose carefully to avoid HTs, I am hoping that you still have the names of the roses you did plant. That is critical to getting good advice - please let us know their names.

Jackie
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
9 years ago
In most northern places, it is very difficult to buy roses that are remotely truly hardy. It takes a fair amount of research, and then getting the plants by mail order. Simply avoiding hybrid teas isn't good enough. Plenty of 'hardy' shrubs are really only crown hardy, so they will die back and have to regrow most years.

A lot of rose advice is regional, so knowing where you are will help, as will knowing the names of the roses you have.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
9 years ago
I would also like a clarification on what Bayer product you are using. All-in-one, or 2-in-one, or 3-in-one? Most of those products already have a fungicide in them (for blackspot) so I'm not sure why you are also using neem oil. Does it do something else?

For a good Bayer fungicide without all the waste and excesses promoted by the all-in-one type products, use Bayer Garden Disease Control for Roses, Flowers, and Shrubs. You will also need to buy some inexpensive spraying equipment from a place like Home Depot.

Those all-in-one Bayer products also have insecticides in them. Most posters on this forum avoid those insecticides. If you have an insect problem, take pics and show them to us and we may be able to suggest solutions that do not involved insecticides (that can also kill bees and other good critters).

Did you check on how resistant to blackspot those roses were before you ordered them? Disease-magnets can be found in practically every category of roses. Sometimes it takes some serious research to come up with disease-resistant roses in each of your categories you want for your garden. Even then, depending on the disease pressures in your region (whatever it is), you might still need to spray a fungicide occasionally.

Yes, it can take several years for roses to settle in and begin to really mature.

Kate
AquaEyes 7a NJ
9 years ago
What kind of roses did you plant? If they are Rugosas or have a lot of that species in them, spraying anything but water won't be a good idea.

:-)

~Christopher

My rose bushes hardly grew into bushes, so puny help.

Comments (8)

Kippy

seil zone 6b MI

Related Discussions

buford

Hrose

jacqueline9CA

mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)

dublinbay z6 (KS)

AquaEyes 7a NJ

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US