Watering Your Roses

How Much Water Does
The Roses Need?

The amount and frequency of watering your roses depends on the location and the region where you live.

Watering roses is an important part of growing roses. Roses

love water so much, that if you have good drainage, which is a must for roses, it's almost impossable to over watering roses.

But there is no doubt about it, roses really appriciate a regular supply of water.

And the keyword here is regular.

During the roses first season, when the root system is getting established and the feeder roots are expanding outward, sideways, underground, sufficient watering is especially critical.

When watering roses, you'll want to do deep watering, so your

roses develop deep roots.

Not only will this anchor the plants in place, but a deep-growing root system will help the plants survive a drought.

The best time to water your roses is early in the morning so the foilage will dry out quickly.

However, overhead watering is not wise, as it will help spread fungus spores.

And it is very hard to give your roses a deep soaking by overhead watering sprinklers.

In hot, dry climates the roses will need more water, while they can get by on less in cooler, more humid areas.

If you are growing roses in hot summer climates such as Arizona, you need to provide daily soakings at the base of the roses.

As a general rule of thumb, that translates into 4-5 gallons of water per rose plant, each week.

It's better to apply water in one, or two, deep soakings per week than to give daily spritzers.

If the weather hits a dry spell, be sure to give it a minimum of 5 gallons of water per week, each rose bush.

The Rules Of Watering Roses
The Basics For Watering

When watering your roses, keep in mind that they do best when they receive a deep soaking every so often, rather than a shallow watering often.

Deep watering encourages rose plants to send their roots far into the soil.

These roots far down, helps roses find moisture during dry spells.

Of course, how often depends on your soil.

If your soil is very sandy, it will drain very quickly, which isn't bad, but means you have to water more often.

Soil with lots of clay will retain water longer, so you dont have to water as often.

If you are unsure if you need to water, take a hand shovel, and dig down a bit.

If the soil holds together when you hold it in your hand, you can wait a bit longer.

If not, it's time to water well.

Drip-irrigation systems and soaker hoses are two ways to deliver

water right to the soil and minimize water loss to evaporation.

This system also helps to keep the leaves dry, which discourages the development of some rose diseases.

After the rose plants have been in the ground for three or four years, they become quite drought tolerant.

Especially if they have been able to develop deep root systems through regular deep-waterings.

Watering your roses should be done consistently.

Roses respond to a predictable watering schedule, this is even truer in drought prone areas.

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