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New Rose New Soil

21 years ago

Some books say you should never plant a rose where another has been. Other books say to wait anything from 6 months to 2 years, before putting in a new rose. I've always been in too much of a hurry to wait anytime at all, so have always replaced the soil. As I garden on a slope, moving soil is quite a heavy job for me and, since I'm about to plant some replacement bushes, I'm wondering if there is an easier way. I once read about a spray that sterilizes the soil but can't remember what it was or where I read it.

Has anyone heard of this and or used it?

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Comments (5)

Deryn
21 years ago
Hi,
I would never consider sterilising the soil as it is full of living organisims that are beneficial for the health of plants.

If it was my garden I would dig holes and add lots of organic matter and then plant the roses.
I think that the info about not being able to plant roses where others have been is wrong. The original plants remove much of the goodness from the soil and if you replace it with more organic matter (cool manures etc) the new plant will thrive.
Best of luck with your garden,

regards Deryn
Melda
21 years ago
Agree with everything Deryn has advised. I do the same when replacing a rose and have never had a casualty.
Melda
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BRODIE27
21 years ago
Hi Wattleblossom, I am up on the central Queensland coast and replace a certain number of roses every year mainly to try new ones out and remove any that haven't lived up to my expectations re flower colour or size etc(I give them away) and am unable to enlarge the rose garden any further. This year I took out 18 roses ( I have around 90 ) and I normally remove the bush with surrounding soil, say a good two buckets full and use that soil somewhere else in the garden. Then I replace it with some fresh soil mixed with organic fertilizer and blood and bone and leave to rest for about 2 months before planting new bareroot roses. If a rose actually dies or is diseased when I remove it then I drench that spot with a dettol solution ( a watering can full of water and add just enough dettol to make it cloudy) and then be sure to add plenty of organic matter back into that spot to bring back the worms etc. Hope I have been of some help. Incidentally the Victorian State Rose Garden in Werribee Victoria (thousands of roses) replant their gardens constantly and leave to rest 6 months and add plenty of organic matter then replant.
wattleblossom
Original Author
21 years ago
Thank you everyone, I feel so much better now. The roses I want to plant are in awkward spots and the thought of digging out soil was really putting me off. Also, I no longer have anywere to put excess soil other than on the compost, which is 4 lots of steps away. I'm putting in 2 x Sophies Perpetual which I've had in pots for a while so their roots won't be going straight into the surrounding soil, and it's a few months since I took out the old roses. I think I'll do it tomorrow. Thanks again.
waldon
21 years ago
Quote[I once read about a spray that sterilizes the soil]

Bio Dynamics it's called. You spray absolute crappy soil one year, follow up 6 to 12 months later, wait a little longer and voila, your soil is now ready for planting madam.

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