Rose Care: A Complete Guide

They’re one of the most (if not the most) iconic garden plants. Roses. Their beautiful blooms, sumptuous scents and thorny stems have beguiled and captivated the world in a way no other plant has managed, and continue to rank among the most popular shrubs around the world.

Like any plant, however, they’re not completely immune to issues from pests or diseases. And with so many different types of rose, it can be difficult to know where to even begin. With that in mind, we’ve compiled this comprehensive post on how to care for your rose, and whether you’re a gardening novice or rose aficionado, this will serve as a handy reference guide to keep your rose(s) in tip-top shape.

Jump to:

• Caring for hybrid tea roses
• Caring for polyantha roses
• Caring for floribunda roses
• Caring for patio roses
• Caring for ground cover roses

Caring for hybrid tea roses

Hybrid tea roses are one of the most popular rose types, first bred in the nineteenth century (crossing hybrid perpetual and tea roses). They’re popular for their traditional showy blooms and the wide variety when it comes to colour.

Placement

Hybrid tea roses should be planted in full sun (at least six hours of direct sunlight per day) in fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Preferably, you want it to be really rich in organic matter; if your soil’s on the poorer side, you can enrich it with some well-rotted compost or manure. This can help improve moisture retention in sandy soils, and drainage in heavy clay soils.

Watering

Water the soil at the base of your hybrid tea rose two to three times per week through its first growing season to help with establishment. Once established, a weekly watering should suffice if the soil feels dry. In the height of summer, newly planted hybrid tea roses may need watering daily while established plants will benefit from a deep weekly soak. If your rose’s foliage begins to wilt, it’s a sign it needs watering.

Feeding

Hybrid tea roses are heavy feeders and should be fed accordingly. Apply a purpose rose feed fertiliser around the base of the plant in early spring, and then again once the first flush of flowers; this will help encourage strong repeat flowering. If you can’t find a specialist rose feed, then opt for something like a balanced (10-10-10) multipurpose fertiliser. Applying a layer of mulch (something like well-rotted manure) will help lock in both moisture and nutrients.

Pruning

We’ve written an extensive guide on pruning roses in the past, but here’s what you need to know in brief when it comes to hybrid tea roses. In late winter, around February, your first job is to remove any dead, damaged, overcrowded or weak stems. Once that’s done, cut the strongest-growing stems back to around the 15cm mark, leaving between four to six buds. For less vigorous stems, cut back to a couple of buds (around the 5cm mark).

Caring for polyantha roses

Polyantha roses are generally smaller than hybrid tea roses, both in terms of overall bush size and bloom size, while they also often continuously flower through the season, as opposed to hybrid tea flowers and their two distinct flowering ‘flushes’. As for their care requirements, polyanthas generally require less attention than their showier siblings, though you’ll still want to do a couple of things.

Placement

Like hybrid tea roses, polyanthas like a spot in full sun (six hours of direct sunlight or more per day). Because they’re smaller, more compact plants that don’t get buffeted about by the wind so much, they’re also a bit better for exposed positions. This isn’t to say hybrid tea roses can’t grow in more exposed positions, however they might need support in some form in order to help protect against problems like ‘wind-rock’.

Watering

Newly planted polyantha roses will appreciate a regular watering throughout the growing season to help them establish. They’re fairly drought-tolerant thereafter, however an occasional soak during hot, dry spells is appreciated.

Feeding

Polyanthas can be a little less demanding than other rose types when it comes to feeding, with a light application of general feed and a layer of mulch often being more than enough to keep them happy and healthy.

Pruning

Polyanthas aren’t demanding when it comes to pruning. Just remove any dead, damaged or diseased plant material in late winter. If you want, you can also carry out any trimming/shaping work you want to if you’re looking for a neater plant.

Source: Patrick Nouhailler, Flickr

Caring for floribunda roses

Another of the most popular rose types, floribundas (which are actually a hybrid of hybrid tea and polyantha roses) are renowned for their clusters of large flowers. Floribunda rose care differs from other rose types in a couple of ways, while being similar in a couple of others.

Placement

As you’ll find with all of the roses in this guide, floribunda roses do best when planted in full sun, wherever possible. Some specific rose varieties can handle partial shade, though this is on a cultivar level, and proves the exception rather than the rule. 

Watering

Like most roses, floribundas don’t need excessive watering once they’ve established after the first one or two years. That said, the odd watering during hot, dry spells wouldn’t go amiss.

Feeding

Floribundas are hungry feeders (it’s no surprise when you look at their showy blooms). Feed twice annually, once at the start of spring with a purpose-formulated rose fertiliser, and then again in the middle of summer after the first flush of flowers to encourage continued blooms.

Pruning

Floribunda roses need to be pruned a little differently to hybrid tea roses; in late winter to early spring, cut back your floribunda’s stems to roughly 30cm from the ground. For the oldest stems, you can cut these right down to soil level to stimulate new growth from the crown.

Source: Patrick Nouhailler, Flickr

Caring for patio roses

Next up is patio roses. These are smaller, more compact roses well-suited to growing in containers on patios, terraces and balconies. Though there are only relatively few patio rose varieties, when compared to other types, they’re a popular choice and punch above their weight.

Placement

Choose a deep container that will enable the plant’s roots to really grow (something which is important given the long roots of roses). Plant in loamy multipurpose compost such as John Innes No. 3 and position your rose in a sunny spot.

Watering

Container-grown roses dry out quicker than those grown in the open ground so it’s important you keep on top of its watering. As a general rule, you want the compost to feel moist to touch but not waterlogged.

Feeding

Patio roses are, like all roses, pretty hungry feeders. Applying a layer of balanced fertiliser around the base of the plant every spring will help keep it in tip-top shape. Putting down some well-rotted compost mulch is also beneficial to help lock in moisture and suppress weeds.

Pruning

When it comes to pruning patio roses, you want to take a similar approach to floribunda pruning; cut back the main, healthiest stems by roughly one third to a lateral or bud. In summer, deadhead any spent flowers to encourage more blooming.

Source: Rachel B, Flickr

Caring for climbing roses

Onto climbing roses now, and these vigorous, sprawling plants have their own set of care requirements which mark them out as distinct from their shrubby siblings.

Placement

Plant your climbing rose in full sun, adjacent to a surface up which it can be trained (this could be a trellis fixed to a wall, an arbour, an archway or a pergola. This is where you will tie in the rose stems as they grow. Preferably, you also want a more sheltered position. You want to leave a little room between the support and the plant (30cm or so) – particularly with walls and fences; this ensures airflow and helps prevent the plant from drying out.

Watering

The main thing to look out for when growing climbing roses (or any climber for that matter) is the rain shadow effect, where the ground directly next to the vertical surface is sheltered from rain-bearing winds. Planting a little further from the surface helps avoid this, but you’ll still want to keep a closer eye on the soil and keep it moist.

Feeding

To feed your climbing rose, apply some rose-specific granular fertiliser around the base of the plant at the start of spring. In the middle of summer, give a second application to encourage further flowering.

Pruning

To prune your climbing rose, take your secateurs in January or February and snip away any dead, damaged or diseased stems. Next, take the side shoots that have flowered and cut them back by roughly two thirds. Tie in any new stems to the support against which you’re growing your rose. Should your plant become too congested, you can remove some of the older stems from the base of the plant; this will both free up space and encourage fresh new growth.

Caring for ground cover (carpet) roses

If you’ve got a bit of bare ground to cover, you can do a lot worse than planting a ground cover rose (also sometimes referred to as carpet roses). These sprawling plants bear abundant flowers in what quickly becomes a billowing blanket of blooms.

Planting

One of the main things to note about ground cover roses is that due to their proximity to the ground, they’re more tolerant of exposed conditions than many other rose types. In terms of aspect, they too like a fully sunny spot. They also tend to be able to thrive even in poorer soils.

Watering

Established ground cover roses typically have less intensive water requirements than their more vertically inclined cousins, displaying some levels of drought tolerance once it’s bedded in properly. The occasional soak during hot, dry spells should be more than enough.

Feeding

Unlike the other rose types mentioned in this guide, ground cover roses have less strenuous feeding needs. An application of fertiliser at the start of spring followed by diligent deadheading throughout the summer months is all that’s usually needed.

Source: Tim Schofield, Flickr

Final thoughts

So, there you have it, everything you need to know to get your rose growing… Going! Make sure to check out our other guides on rose garden ideas and problems experienced by roses.