There’s something especially evocative about the smell and beauty of roses. No other flower seems to elicit the sense of history and romance that roses do. No other aroma tempts passers by to lean in for a deep sniff or inspires poets, artists and painters to such a degree.

It’s no wonder that we gardeners are so committed to growing roses in our gardens, despite their reputation of being hard to care for. While some roses can be difficult to grow and disease-prone, there is a lot that gardeners like us can do to help our roses thrive – and provide beauty, scent, and inspiration. The good news is that it’s a lot easier than you may think.

If you get your roses off to a good start, and give them the right kind of attention as they grow, its easy to keep your cutting garden, climbing roses, rose hedges, and even organic roses looking their very best. In fact, easy rose care comes down to a few simple principles: Providing a good location, with the right balance of sun and moisture, and keeping roses fertilized with plenty of rich organic matter in the soil, so that they are not prone to diseases or pests.

After that, a little annual pruning, and you’ll be enjoying gorgeous roses, just like they do in the display gardens and catalogs where rose blooms are prominently featured.

Best Results For Watering Roses

When it comes to watering your roses, aim for about an inch of water per week. If it doesn’t rain this much during the growing season in your area, you’ll need to irrigate your roses yourself. If you have a built-in sprinkler system, or just turn on the hose for a while – watch out – leaving moisture on the leaves for extended period of time can lead to disease and fungal infections. Try to water at a time (early morning or late evening) when it’s not too hot, so the water won’t immediately evaporate before soaking into the soil. Also, don’t let the leaves stay wet – if the leaves get wet during watering (from an overhead sprinkler for example) it may be best to water in the morning, or when the plants are in the sun, so the leaves have the opportunity to dry quickly.

It’s also a good idea to give a smaller number of deep waterings rather than many frequent waterings. This will encourage your rose bushes to develop a deep root system that will allow it to survive during dry periods. Frequent shallow waterings can encourage the development of shallow roots in your rose bushes, making them especially drought prone as surface soil tends to dry out more quickly than subsoil.

Feeding Your Roses

Feeding your roses ideally means planting them in a soil that is rich in organic matter and nutrients. If your roses are already in the ground, their isn’t much you can do to improve their bedding soil except adding a shallow layer of compost as a top dressing each year. Nutrients from the compost will leach into the soil, enhancing its quality and composition over time. If you are or seek to be an organic gardener, don’t underestimate the power of good quality soil in helping your plants stay healthy.

If you are growing roses in pots, an apartment, or other limited space where you don’t have access to compost, commercially available rose fertilizers are another good way to keep your roses well nourished and looking their best. Apply a slow-release fertilizer in early spring as the roses are coming out of their dormant winter period and starting to show the first signs of spring growth. You can re-apply fertilizer in late summer after your roses have stopped blooming and are storing energy for next season. Look for a balanced fertilizer with a Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium ratio of 5-10-5 or 4-8-4. Nitrogen encourages leaf growth, phosphorus is for blossoms, and potassium encourages root growth… all things your bushes need.

How To Prune Your Roses

Keeping your rose bushes well pruned is an extremely important aspect of easy rose care. You can prune your roses in early spring, before the plant has started sending energy out into the branches you’re about to cut off. Spring is a good time to do it, because you can also remove branches that have been killed or damaged by snow and ice over the winter months. Focus on getting rid of weak, spindly stems as well as those that appear broken, damaged or diseased.

Also keep an eye on the shape of the rose bush. Good pruning will allow light to reach the interior branches of the plant and allow for air flow (a good hedge against disease) once the plant has leafed out. Try to keep the center of the rose bush open, in a V-shape, to allow light and air access to all the remaining branches.

Dead-heading is also an important part of pruning your roses. If you can remove spent blossoms before rose hips form, you’ll help your plant save energy and continue its bloom cycle, prolonging it throughout the summer.

Caring for roses does take time and commitment. It also takes patience, skill, and knowledge. But, the rewards are worth it. There is nothing better then to be able to display your hard work for all to see with a beautiful rose bush display in your garden, or in a vase on your kitchen table.