wrote in message
oups.com...
I have constructed a raised rose bed. Me and my wife live in
Charlotte, NC and we have constructed a raise bed. My natural land is
nothing but clay. We were wondering if anybody may have a suggestion
as to what kind of dirt mixture to fill the raise bed with in order to
get the greatest benifit of the bed?
Thanks Joe

My land is fine black clay so I have a similar
problem. I constructed raised rose beds by
digging down about 10", and building up
about 9". In early beds I filled the whole bed
with a local "rose soil" concoction which
consists of finely shredded mulch, orange
sand, and compost. In later beds I filled only
the planting areas with the rose soil, mixing
half and half with clay in the areas where
roses aren't planted.

I put a thick layer of mulch down. About
once a year I add mulch containing compost.

So far no problems with drainage, which is
good considering we've had several major
floods since I put in the raised beds.

Roses like acidic soil so if you keep that in
mind most anything reasonable will do. Roses
are heavy feeders so to get the most from
them you should look into a feeding program.
Those vary quite a bit by preference so I'd
suggest reading up on recommendations,
pick one that suits you, and see how your
roses do. Adjust feeding as needed.

There are a number of articles about roses
at the American Rose Society site:
www.ars.org

Good luck with your rose beds.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8