Bob Bauer wrote:


Don't get weed killer anywhere near your roses! That is insane. It
can kill them.

In fact you don't need any insecticides, herbicides or fungicides for
mulching your roses. PERIOD.

I'm with Bob, here, Susan. I have had crabgrass pre-emergent for a couple
of years, but have not put it down around my roses where the cg grows,
because I just don't quite trust this stuff with those vital little white
root hairs. I pull it up, apply more mulch, and have used newspapers as
Bob directs below. Even in sheets, if you are watering your roses enough,
they break down surprisingly fast, so that you can poke holes in them even
before they are totally broken down, to let the water through.




The newspaper idea will work, but with a few changes:

1) Don't shred the paper, but put it down in moderately thick sheets,
layering all over the ground where you don't want anything to pop
through.

2) Next, cover the newspaper thoroughly with bark mulch. If the
newspaper is fully covered with mulch, it will remain moist from your
regular rose waterings, and slowly break down, even in your dry
climate. If it is exposed to the air, it won't break down.

3) Water and fertilize normally

Another great way to mulch roses is to use a thick layer of garden
compost covered with any type of mulch. (Pine needles, bark, nut
hulls, whatever.)

Bob Bauer
Zone 6 in Salt Lake City
http://www.rose-roses.com/