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First time rose grower - all my grafts are above ground

10 years ago

So this is my first year growing roses and I made a big mistake by planting my rose lining the the dirt in the pot with the ground. Of course this mean that all of my grafts are either right above the ground or couple of inches above the ground. I think it's too late replant them now so I just pile on more dirt to cover the graft and lightly mulching it. Is this ok? And should I replant it next year or just keep piling dirt on it each winter?

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Comments (7)

seil zone 6b MI
10 years ago
It is too late now to replant them. You don't want to disturb the roots so close to freeze. Go ahead and mulch them high this winter. It will help. If you want you can sink them deeper next spring. It will make winterizing them easier in the future.

I have a lot of roses that are buried only to ground level because they were Mom's and she never sank a graft. So don't despair. Unless you have a really particularly bad winter they should be fine. Roses are way tougher than we give them credit for.
michaelg
10 years ago
One approach would be to permanently raise the grade in the rose bed by 4-5 inches. Roses can adapt to changes in grade.
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joopster
Original Author
10 years ago
I thougth about raising the bed. But then I have peonies in the bed, which are very sensitive. They wouldn't bloom if bury too deep.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
10 years ago
How many roses are you talking about, joopster? Unless you have dozens and dozens of roses, I think you can just replant them in the spring. But I would give them some protection to get through this winter.

If you have lots of roses, you may have to make that a long-term project replanting the grafts below the soil line--maybe several years project, depending on how many roses you have.

Good luck.

Kate
joopster
Original Author
10 years ago
All together 5. One of them I can raise the bed no problem. It's in the new bed with nothing in it yet. The other 4 not so much. I will replant it spring. Will this effect the bloom next year?
michaelg
10 years ago
Replant before growth starts, as soon as the soil thaws and is not too goopy--during a dry spell if possible. If you must work with heavy soil when wet, work it as little as possible and do not tamp! Use lots of water to settle after replanting. Prune the canes down past any brown center pith, which indicates winter damage. Preserve all the fleshy roots if you can.

They will bloom after replanting, but it is a setback. Do not cut flowers with long stems next summer, but just remove the faded flowers. All the stems and leaves help the plants build energy.
susan4952
10 years ago
Make a surround with cobbles, bricks, whatever. At the drip line. Fill that with mulch. This is essentially a collar to hold protective insulating mulch to protect the crown from freeze. Garden centers even sell collars for this purpose. I grow lots of roses this way and they do just fine. You can replant next spring. And don't worry. Depending on our winter and which roses you are growing, they should be fine.

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