Maintaining My Formal Rose Garden

August 30, 2024

Aside from their beauty and intoxicating sweet scents, roses can continue to flower throughout the summer.

I adore roses and have grown them for more than 30-years. Here at my farm, I have roses in my perennial garden, in my allée of lilacs, and in a more formal space behind my main greenhouse. The 68-foot by 30-foot rose bed includes floribunda, hybrid tea, and shrub roses - all with gorgeous color, form, and fragrance. And all bordered by lush green boxwood. This week, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew spent some time in this garden, pruning and mulching the plants and shrubs.

Enjoy these photos.

: In order to grow beautiful, healthy roses, they must get an abundance of sunshine. I planted more than 120 roses in this space a couple of years ago. The plants have definitely grown. They get nutrient rich soil and fertilizer, and regular maintenance through the year.

: The entire garden is surrounded with boxwood. Large boxwood shrubs anchor the corners and mark the middle and main footpath. These smaller boxwood, which I’ve nurtured from bare-root cuttings fill in the rest of the perimeter.

: Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. Boxwood is native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

: Boxwood leaves are evergreen and remain on the plant through the winter. They range from half inch to one inch long and are dark, glossy, and green on top. The back of the leaf is usually a lighter green with a distinct white mid-vein.

: All of these roses came from Danielle Hahn, author of the new book “The Color of Roses,” published by Ten Speed Press.

: This garden includes a variety of different pastel colors from pink to apricot to lavender, yellow and creamy white.

: A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are more than a hundred species and thousands of cultivars.

: This rose is just beginning to unfurl. Given the right care, healthy roses can bloom all the way until early fall.

: The leaves of the rose are described as “pinnate” – meaning there is a central rib and then leaflets off to each side, with one terminal leaflet. Rose leaves can have anywhere from two to 13 leaflets.

: And rose stems are often armed with sharp prickles – they aren’t thorns at all. Unlike a thorn, a prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.

: I keep a good eye on these roses and remind my crew when they need maintenance. The roses were pruned and groomed after the peak of bloom earlier this summer. Now they are being pruned again for height and for regular maintenance – removing any dead or dying leaves, buds, branches, or stems.

: Our summer gardening intern, Matthew Orrego, uses these Okatsune pruners – they are very dependable and long lasting. Everyone on my crew has a pair.

: Matt identifies the dead branches, which are brown as opposed to the bright green live ones. And then he cuts the dead branches back to the base of the plant.

: He also removes any weak growth and cuts all the rose bushes down to waist high.

: At the same time, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, brings in mulch for the entire garden. Mulching benefits roses through soil amendment, water conservation, weed control, and disease and insect control.

: I am fortunate to be able to make my own rich mulch right here at the farm. Chhiring drops the mulch in small loads and then spreads a two to three inch layer evenly through the rows.

: It also makes the garden look very neat and tidy.

: Matthew also works on pruning and grooming the boxwood. Here, one can see all the new growth.

: Matthew uses Japanese Okatsune shears. The shears are user friendly, and come in a range of sizes. They allow him to sculpt and groom as well as prune the foliage.