Step 3: How to plant your roses

Now that you've figured out where you want to plant and what kinds of roses you want to plant, you need to decide where you're going to plant the bushes you've ordered. You can mark it on your grid design anywhere you wish, but make sure you make a key as you're writing this so you can remember what each of your markings means. While you wait for your rose bushes to arrive, you need to do a few other things. That is, you need to gather planting materials and you need to prepare your spot for planting.

To prepare your garden for the roses you should:

Make sure there's a good circulation of air.
Make sure the soil drains well and is well fertilized. You can do this by tilling the soil so that it is loose on the surface and not packed down.
Make sure the area gets pleny of sun.
Mark with stakes where you wish to plant. You should have at least 6-8 inches between bushes, though you may need more room if they are large.

The optimal time to plant depends on the weather where you live. It is recommended to plant when the soil is neither waterlogged, nor frosted. For many places in the U.S., this is late spring.

Planting your Roses:

In planting your roses, it's good to know whether they will be arriving bare-rooted or in containers. Unfortunately, Edmund's Roses' website doesn't say how they come, though many come in bare-rooted. It would be good to call or contact them ahead of time because it affects how you are to plant your roses.

For our purposes we'll assume the roses are bare-root.

Plant the roses as soon as the weather allows.
If they cannot be planted right away, keep them cool but away from frost
Make sure the roots do not dry out in the process of planting. To do this, soak the roots in a bucket of water and cut them back 20-25cm and remove any damaged roots.
Dig a circular hole 30cm deep and wider than the root spread.
Place the plant in gently and add soil loosely until the hole is full.
Add food designed for roses and water lightly.