Can Roses Grow in Containers?
Roses grow well in containers as long as you take steps to ensure their health. Compared to the ground, a container differs in temperature and moisture, root space and soil quality. Containers are aboveground and their temperature fluctuates more than garden soil, especially at the edges of the container. Containers restrict roots from growing out sideways. Also, the soil in a container is limited and does not renew itself in the same way as garden soil; it does not get natural compost from organic matter. Does this Spark an idea?
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Watering Container Roses in Summer
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Remember to water often. Containers absorb heat easily and the temperature of the roots and soil as well as the foliage can get very high in the summer, even in temperate areas. Roses need water and dislike drying out completely. In summer, water roses in containers every few days, or every day in hot locations. Soak the soil well. You may need shade protection, so adding ground covers, like thyme or lobelia to your rose containers slows down soil evaporation.
Protecting Container Roses in Winter
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Roses need cold to trigger winter dormancy but may not survive prolonged hard freezes. The ground maintains a fairly stable temperature below the frost line, so a plant with deep roots is somewhat protected against freezing. This protection is largely lost in containers. Grouping containers together in winter helps insulate all of them. If you live in an area that gets cold in winter, bring dormant roses into a garage, or make a temporary stockade out of straw or hay bales with all the containers inside it.
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Fertilizing Container Roses
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Roses are heavy feeders and produce much better foliage and more flowers when they have good soil and plenty of nutrients. They soon exhaust the nutrients in the limited soil of a container, so you need to replace those nutrients. Container plants that look ragged and thin are short of food. Give at least a couple of good feeds of a rose fertilizer in spring and summer, or add liquid fertilizer when you water. Add mycorrhizal fungi to new plantings to help the root system.
Repotting and Root-pruning
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Repotting is the solution to many container problems. Repot roses at least every three years, especially those in smaller containers. Repotting allows you to change the exhausted soil and replace it with new soil and compost. By the time you repot a rose, it may be growing roots in a circle around the edge of the pot; trim some roots back if you are putting the rose back into the same pot. Roses will often stop growing for a while after repotting and then take off with new growth.
Pruning and Containers
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Container-grown roses do not get as large as those grown in the ground because the root system is constrained; the amount of foliage a plant can sustain is dictated by the size and health of the root system. Because of this, you can prune roses in containers carefully to keep a nice shape and limit growth to what the root system can support. Roses tolerate pruning well, so cut back leggy growth. Miniature and smaller roses like polyanthas and floribundas grow easily in containers; give bigger roses the largest container practical. Half-barrels make great containers for bigger roses.
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- Photo Credit Rosengarten in Changwon, Serie image by Angelika Bentin from Fotolia.com roses image by brelsbil from Fotolia.com
