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To maintain a beautiful and thriving rose garden may seem easy only to a beginner, or to somebody who never tried to grow a single rose. It is advisory to start from a careful estimation of the area that you are going to dedicate to your roses, as they need at least six hours of sun, preferably the morning and early afternoon sun. It is better to plant fewer specimen and try to carefully maintain them instead of loading your dream rose garden with numerous plants which will be left to thrive by neglect.

Preparation of the soil is the factor that has little thrill in itself yet is essential to ensure the general well-being of your rose garden. Roses need moderately rich and well- aerated soil, with some organic matter. You can add compost,or aged manure, which should be mixed in with the soil around your roses at the moment of planting, and also on steady basis afterward. If you mulch around your roses in spring and fall, this will not only help to protect them from cold in winter and to conserve water in hot periods. While decomposing, leaf-mulch in particular, becomes integrated as a nutrient into the soil of your rose bed.

The spacing of your roses depends on the variety of roses that you are cultivating, but 3 to 4 feet is considered to be the standard spacing while planting new plants. The 5.5 - 6.5 pH of soil is the best suited for roses, but even if your soil is adequate, don't forget to add that organic matter while planting. Roses do not do OK in clay.

If your rose garden is not the first year garden, it is critical to correctly prune them early in spring. It is important to get rid of all the winter damage, to cut or saw out dead or sick canes as well as the canes that cross over each other. If you leave 5 - 6 good canes it is perfect, but even 3 - 4 good canes is OK for a mature rose plant at the start of a new season.You can go as low as 8 inches left from the ground while cutting your roses back, which is advisory to do at the end of February or start of March. Do not be afraid do be some rough as it is better to leave less and let the rose grow out instead of saving old and scraggly canes or branches. Climbers are pruned differently, but it can be another topic for discussion in your rose club or rose society.

Do not forget to fertilize your roses. If you are using a potent slow release fertilizer, it is done in spring. If you have to rely on factory manufactured fertilizer, apply it on regular basis through the season, but stop feeding your roses

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