GROWING ROSES IN SANDY SOILS

Articles In This Section:

· CLIMATIC DIFFICULTIES

· ROSES IN COLD CLIMATES

· ROSES IN SUB-TROPICAL CLIMATES

· ROSES IN TROPICAL CLIMATES

· ROSES IN HOT, DRY CLIMATES

· GROWING ROSES IN SANDY SOILS

The greatest prerequisite for successful rose culture in sandy soils is careful preparation of the beds. This has been fully dealt with in Chapter X. Rose-growing in sandy soils need never be regarded as difficult, let alone impossible, despite frequent statements to that effect. As in all other types of soil, the roses must not be manured in the .first few months after planting, but a mulch of straw or leaves to a depth of two or three inches will be helpful. It will make both the soil temperature and the soil moisture more equable. For this purpose it is inadvisable to use fresh vegetable matter, such as lawn clippings, for they ferment when in thick layers. If sawdust is used it should be spread sparingly but at intervals of a few weeks.

In the late summer, compost or animal manure with wood ashes, straw, leaves, and bone-meal should be added. Organic matter, especially decomposed vegetable waste material, should be given unsparingly. Sandy soils are most common in coastal districts, where seaweed is often available. However, it is illegal to collect it from beaches in some municipalities without a permit.

Sandy soils need watering at frequent intervals, for the coarse soil particles allow rapid drying by both evaporation and drainage. Heavy soakings will last very little longer than medium applications, and will do great disservice by washing away precious plant foods.

Successful rose-growing in sandy soils depends largely on the selection of the understock. R. fortuniana and R. multi-flora are very well adapted to the circumstances, each having extensive and densely massed fibrous root systems capable of seizing all available food.

No soil is more sandy than that of metropolitan Perth or some of Sydney's suburbs. The two stocks named seem equally successful in these areas, and those of us who have been fortunate enough to see well-grown plants and blooms in both cities need have no further doubts as to the possibilities of rose-growing in soil that was almost pure sand before the rose enthusiast set about preparing his garden. Not only have growers in these parts and in coastal Queensland disproved the old idea that roses need heavy clay, but they enjoy glorious displays of blooms for at least nine and, in many parts, twelve months of the year.