Preparing an Organic Rose Garden for Spring

Many rose gardeners rely on local folk wisdom as their guide for pruning roses and readying the rose beds for spring. Where I live, the blooming of forsythia is our signal that the beds are ready to be turned and the roses pruned back and fertilized.

For those of us who are organic gardeners, getting those rose gardens ready for spring takes a bit of work but the effort is certainly worth it. Here's how I get my rose gardens ready for Spring the organic way; these ideas may work for you as well.

Prune first. If the forsythia is in bloom (or whatever your local folk custom is regarding pruning), pruning roses is the first step in getting a rose bed ready for spring. The pruning needs to be done anyway, and getting all those thorny branches out of there makes working in the beds so much easier. Here and here are two excellent articles that will teach you about proper pruning.

Now weed. After the pruning, comes the weeding. I use a Japanese Digging Knife to remove the weeds and their roots in my rose beds. (check out this awesome tool). This digging tool lifts up the weed roots, can be used to knock the soil off the roots, and hand till the earth. Hand tilling helps to turn over the winter mulch which will improve soil texture.

Sprinkle with compost. If you've been composting over the winter, that wonderful, earthy material can now be used to fertilize the rose beds. Spread a shovelful of compost around the base of each rose bush, and turn into the soil using a digging tool or hand trowel.

Finish up with mulch. Wood mulch is a natural soil enhancer that benefits all plants and shrubs. Mulch protects tender roots, helps preserve ground moisture, adds nutrition back to the soil, keeps down the weeds, reduces erosion, and gives a flower bed a nice, tidy appearance. Roses tolerate acidic mulches such as pine needles or pine mulch, which can be spread around the bed to a depth of two to three inches. Mulch should not be stacked around the trunk of the rose bush since it can damage the bark.

These four easy steps is all it takes to ready a rose bed for spring the organic way. Proper pruning, ridding the beds of weeds, and adding compost and pine mulch results in healthy, vigorous plant growth without the need for chemicals.