Just amazing! I hope your back is ok after all this digging. Kudos to you for accomplishing all that and may they reward you with beautiful blooms and roses in the days to come.

Call me nuts. I like roses. Period. And I like colors!!! Haha. More colors better. And I love David Austin’s. So here is what I order. I bought first and I’m figuring out what to do now. Lol.

This is what I have in mind

Janaina

Wow what neat holes ! By the way , just curious why are they square and not round ?

Thats all. I will plant some rose In the back and in the front of the house

That is crazy, but I love it! Your holes are so neat! How do you do that? Is this the same property that was so astounding about which you've posted prior. I would have been loathe to leave it. Please keep posting and let us know what is going where if it's not too much work. Thanks for lightening my day! : )

Hi pink rose!!! Because when I dig round holes, it always end up always like a funnel. Huge on the top and tiny on the bottom. And I think i have OCD lol When I make square holes I have better control when I’m using the shovel. Weird isn’t?

Lily I was going to get to go, but now my husband is picking them up. I was going to take pics. Maybe I can get him to, but I don't expect much. It's 40 minutes from the other house, that we are mainly just using as a business location now.

Janaina I think it's going to look great. I love that house.

Janaina

Your house is so beautiful. Looks like a historic mansion . Will look even more so surrounded by all these roses !

Embothrium Thank you for the suggestion. Funny thing is, the row of roses on the property is, in my mind, I planned to facilitate mowing the lawn. How can it be difficult? I imagine that bushes all over the place would be a difficult job. I will mulch between the roses. I have a limited space at the property, and so I am unable to dig holes everywhere. I think my design is very classic, not a soft look, but elegant

Another issue is that my soil is actually clay and sediment, so I’d rather deal with this problem once and for all and in one shot and forget about!!! Peace and for the rest of the season I just have to relax and enjoy the garden!

Ljsemar As pleasant as planting roses in the spring time, is being able to drinking tea/ coffee while dreaming / planning / designing the yard on the freezing winter for the next season. That is priceless and and always put a smile on my face. Not metioniting that is a never ending work!!

Gosh what a gorgeous property! And the arbor row , fantastic!! Please promise to share photos even when they are young. Wow . You have such good structure there . I like the arbor row , as you can really expand from that if needed . So beautiful!!

ljsemar, most of us amend our planting hole's soil. Many of us have poor soil and rocks and need to do that. It really helps.

W ow. What a cool collection of Roses. I can't wait to see the finished product. You have done so much work. It will be fabulous !

Such beautiful holes and how do you do it ? And you did that so well and so perfect. So neat and I am having problems with mine. It is like huge sand glass..you see my sand fall so finely into a hole...and best part is I prefer what you have..like nothing in there. I absolutely love you land , your mansion and selection of roses. And best of all your ideas as of how you exterior design layout of your front and backyard.

Love colours scheme as well. I love it :)

I can't wait to see everything goes in place and see it bloom. It will look so gorgeous with your house. Lots of roses and lots of work and lots of SMILES :)

Ijsemar, don't feel bad about your soil. Sheila and Lilyfinch are absolutely right.

Witchy, lots of pics looking forward to your trip.

Jin

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Lovely setting and you've clearly put a lot of thought and effort into your roses, as well as the carefully dug rose holes. If you like that kind of care with your holes, it makes sense that you'd dig them first and then be ready for the fun with the roses themselves. I've grown nearly all of the roses you list and these look like some fantastic ideas for your yard. I think the Austins in particularly will look great with that classic style of house.

While you're drinking your tea and pondering where to put all your roses, you might consider a few of the ones that you've ordered that are not as hardy as the other ones in my experience. I expect all of them will survive the winters in zone 6b, but they might not be as big as expected for a few of the roses. In particular, three of your climbers might not actually climb in zone 6b, so you might plan to put them where a bush would be OK if they die down to the ground each winter. I've never been able to over winter Don Juan, Papi Delbard, or Compassion, so they'll probably overwinter for you OK but not climb.

If you have a sunnier side of the house and grounds, or a protected spot, you might consider that kind of spot for the following roses that I've never been able to overwinter. Again, I suspect they'll survive for you in zone 6b, but they might struggle a bit so they'd benefit from a warmer spot: Burgundy Iceberg, Rosemary Harkness, Barbra Streisand, Cajun Sunrise, Crescendo, Maria Shriver, Paul Neyron, Florence Delattre, Louise Clements, and Star of the Nile. Of course, the color placement might be more important for you than the size or relative hardiness of the roses, but it's worth consideration as you're looking at the placements. I expect you've already considered the varying heights of the roses, and be prepared for at least some of them to not be the height they're "supposed" to be. That's part of the unexpected fun (and surprise) of rose growing.

We'll look forward to seeing the pictures as your yard progresses, particularly in another year or two when they mature to their full size and settle into those lovely surroundings. Enjoy the process and do keep us posted.

Cynthia

Rather than it being something that is "needed" by roses (and other woody plants) amending of planting hole backfill slows establishment initially, can even be fatal where soils are damp and heavy - due to liberally amended planting holes becoming collection points for water under those conditions.

It was being noticed under organized circumstances (university level experimentation) by the late 1960s that trees and shrubs in amended planting holes did not grow as much as those placed in unmodified back-fill in the same plots. The belief in and the recommendation of amending of planting hole back-fill for plants of any significant size or longevity is about 50 years out of date. See the page I linked to above for modern, science based planting practices.

I do what works on my property.

I don' want to be argumentative but every planting video from J&P, Heirloom, Etc all recommend adding compost to the planting hole.

This is what we have been told forever . Can all of these professionals be misleading us ?

We all want to get our plants off to the best start and most of us don't have ideal soil so we amend it.

Perhaps just two schools of thought.

I get advise from Master Gardeners Dept of Agriculture and ARS here locally. I have Myakka soil. Zero nutrients almost dead soil plus it is Hydrophobic soil. Plus nematodes in soil and high recommendation from everyone is manure.

From what I learned from Department of Agriculture. It takes over 10 years to amend my soil to bring life back and for rest of my life yearly of 3-4 inches of manure as toppings then thick layer of mulch on top of manure.

So now I am becoming to be a permaculturist just so I can grow roses. I don't know how Cori Ann do it. My head's spins.

This is not an argument just sharing knowledge of ideas and advises of how difficult soil can be and what is required to grow roses in FL.

Jin

ljsemar, I think you're doing everything right, and it will pay off. Stay the course and don't worry about it. What works for you is what counts. I think I have the same soil problems as you have, and I've been very pleased with the results of soil amendment and the digging of deep and wide planting holes.

Jin, I think Cori Ann is blessed with almost perfect soil, so she rarely if ever fertilizes. She did mention needing to add nitrogen to her azaleas after they had bloomed for several seasons. She is super talented gardener, but you will be, too, with your perseverance. Diane

Cinthya!!! What a relief to read your comment! At least for now, I have some peace of mind! The only intentionally mistake i made IMO was to make the holes too close to each other, because my "lack" of space due way too many roses I ordered. Since Im a rose affectionate I didn't want to give up on any of the roses I reserved. To be honest, on the back of my mind, I was afraid that after a little while when the roses grow it would be clutter and I would have to be pruning constantly to keep the size down. Now, after reading your input, i have a great sense of relief. I love big rose bushes, but i personally don't like to have any monstrosity, specially in that new bed. Lol. I wish i could keep everything a little bigger than a Floribunda size. That yes,would be the ideal for me. I bought those climbers to put on the arches i have in mind. But if they wont climb, i can put beautiful obelisks. To me does not matter. It still similar idea. I have one Peggy Martin in front of my Kitchen window and it is more than 8F wide booth ways. Its amazing!

.

And about the soil, i love to read other people' opinions, watching rose' tutorials on Youtube, read books and magazines.... But I also like to do my own experiments. I think its fun to try different things since I have some time to do it! I am a very creative, curious person, so i like to think outside the box. Take a little bit of information here and there, and from there do what i think its best for myself. If it does not work, its not the end of the world. Gardening to me is a joy and a pleasant hobby. I don't think i would be a happy gardener if I I was only following instruction. But again, that is me!

Diane is correct, Jin. Cori Ann had her soil analyzed and they said it needed maybe a little of one thing, ( I don't recall exactly) and that she didn't need to fertilize. I don't know if she amends when planting or adds compost on top of her plants. I have heavy base soil and can easily compare bushes in the same plot where I've just dug a regular sized hole and those where I've dug wide and deep and amended to lighten it, etc. There's no comparison really. The best is where I've been able to amend the entire bed to account for PH and drainage. Embothrium is correct in that is the recommended way for trees and shrubs, but I've found roses are bred to be blooming machines and their requirements are different if that's what we want.

I have a rose bed that is 1/3 composted sheep manure and 2/3 native soil. There were so many rocks in it, I had to dig 2 feet deep to remove them. I planted roses 1 1/2 feet apart. They winter kill to the ground every year and grow and bloom like crazy with Osmocote for fertilizer. They have been doing this for 15 years. You can always call your local county extension agent or rose society and see what amendments to use with your clay. It can be tricky.

Also, i think you might want to consider removing the grass clumps from your backfill in your roses and remove the grass between the roses and around them. This is the voice of experience speaking. I planted a garden by just tilling in the grass many years ago. I was digging out clumps of grass for years. I have Kentucky Blue Grass and it spreads by rhizomes under the dirt. It isn’t killed by putting mulch over it unless you use a ton. I have to remove the grass and then I have to put edging under the dirt line to keep the grass out of my rose beds. It is so much easier to do that before you plant than after.

Your home and yard are beautiful and I hope you enjoy your new roses for many years to come!

Rebecca

Rebecca!!! Yes!!! That is exactly what i do and i keep planning doing this this time as well. I will remove all the grass clamps around the holes to keep it clean and neat for the following years. Also it will help me to maintain the bed, such pruning, watering without difficutly. I will also frame the rose bed with wood for a nice finishing. I just show the holes yesterday, because i started work on the garden yesterday and I was super excited. I thought it would take 3 days to dugg 1 hole, and i had 25 done!!!! . yes, i have a lot of extra stuff to do. But digging all those holes and removing the bad soil is the most difficult part if you ask me. As soon as I'm done, the rest will come along pretty easy i HOPE. Below are some pictures what i have done and it has been working nicely so far. I mean, this is my 4th year as a gardner and i don think its that bad. Lol

I agree. We all have such different soil so a one size fits all doesn't work.

The man who previously owned this home brought home kelp from the Oregon coast on a regular basis. So some areas are wonderful

But the areas that he left alone, I can't even get a shovel or a pick in to it. So for that area I have decided to do planter beds . There would be no way to plant anything in that soil without heavy amending .

BTW, Ijsemar, your home is gorgeous and your landscaping will be the icing on top.

I have horrible pictures because my phone is $30 one. And it barely works

Your photos are just fine and your finished beds are ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! That is exactly what I was talking about. You are doing waaaaay better after only 4 years of rose gardening than I was. Way to go, Janaina!!

Rebecca

No need to apologize. Your garden looks beautiful from where I'm standing. I only hope when mine is 4 yrs old that it can look half as good as yours.

Janaina, your yard is gorgeous

Really nice edging

Janiana, your garden is beautiful. I love how you did individuals beds , 1 rose in a square timber. You just gave me an idea. Thank you.

I am doing cover crops in front of my house so I can do green manure and back also.

Anyways, it took me nearly 6 months to do this not Bec of anything but due to soul issues Big, big time. I will do another thread next time by summer.

Jin

Beautiful house and yard! Just want to mention one thing, I wouldn't plant too many roses near the pool though, the rose leaves can be messy and with tiny thorns.

Amending of planting hole backfill is a sacred cow among rose hobbyists that do not know the physics behind what is involved. The main benefit of digging amendments into planting holes is the additional loosening of the soil that occurs during the extra digging. Otherwise if enough amendments are used to change the texture of the backfill then a small area of one texture surrounded by a much larger area of another texture is produced. This difference in soil textures affects how water enters and exits the modified planting hole, and is the main problem with amending of planting hole backfill.

Numbers of controlled experiments have demonstrated that plants in amended holes make less initial progress than those in the same plots that have no amendments used. The adverse effect on water movement within the amended planting hole will be the reason for this, with any situation where this effect occurs having the same outcome regardless of soil type, amendment type, or plant type.

Amending of annual flower and vegetable plant beds works because the plants have small root systems, with most of the planting never encountering the edge of the bed where the interaction between the amended area and the soil beyond will be occurring. And it is feasible to keep soil organic content levels up because the entire planting dies every year, unlike with any other kind of plant that is not removed and replanted on an annual basis.

As for "the nursery said to amend the planting holes":

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/planting-instructions.pdf

Is it wrong to have pergola and pool envy ? Because I totally do. It's on our list of projects when we have money and that's exactly what I want. A nice shady pergola for sitting under by the pool . How much maintenance is a pool for you? Or do you pay someone?

Not /janaina, I am new to a pool. I can tell you it costs $400 to close a pool, and $400 to open a pool. We will find out the other costs this summer.

When we moved to this house 4 years ago, the maintenance of this pool was very expensive because it was our very first time dealing with it. We had to ask a company to come over to cover the pool by fall and uncover on the spring time, and they charged us a small fortune for this service. But since we didn’t want to be dependent of these kind of service we started learning to do things on our own. The secret is not stop putting the clorine in the filter, otherwise the Algae can grow in a blink of an eyes. We used to leave the filter running day and night. But now we know better. If the filter run just through the day is good enough and the electrical bill is not a killer. Cleaning/ vacuum the pool is a lot of work but my husband is a lawyer, so when he comes home from work he looks forward the pool work because for him is very therapeutical. Now, to cover and uncover the pool my husband do it himself with his oldest son help. Those two specific times go TONS of chemical into the pool but it’s not that expensive. My pool is HUGE, I think we spend $400 in chemical to open and close. And $100 every two weeks in clorine during the pool season. I have a 4 years old daughter and it’s delightful see her and her friend playing in the pool.

The gazebo was made with a maple tree from this own back yard.

Summersrhutm Ha!!!!!! We posted at the same time!!!! Omg!! You are exactly right!! The company that used to open my pool were charging 1200 for the service. But my husband do it on his own and cost 400!!!!

That’s funny posted at the same time :-) Your area costs more than here, my goodness, $1200 for opening a pool, your pool must be huge. We hired a pool company they charged us $400, we supplied the stuff putting in the pool, our pool is 18’ x 36’.

Lilyfinch Amazing cuz I “envy” your garden. I printed few of your garden pictures for some ideas I liked!!! I love the well in you yard. I think is SO romantic!!

Summersrhut 44 F x 25 F and 9F deep This is the pool measurement It’s a L shape pool Yes!!! We are close to Washington DC area

Thanks for all the pool info summers and Janaina !! I need to ask locally on our next door website .. I had no idea it was that costly !! Yikesssss . . It may be less for us out in the boonies here though.

I love how we can all be inspiring to each other ! I am almost done mulching my beds and when I do I'll post pics of my bed expanding. I have added at least 40 to my beds and have 25 plus on the patio wondering if they'll get a home too :)