Roses need lots of sun, lots and lots of it. Aside from that, stick a trowel
into the ground in 3 or 4 different spots around the bush, about 1 ft away
from the center, and tilt the trowel back and forth a bit to create a little
hole. Pour a handful of a mixture bone meal and blood meal into it, and
dress the area with the composted steer manure sold at HD.

If desired, go to a feed store, (the kind that sell supplies to farmers and
ranchers) and buy a few pounds worth of alfpha cubes, toss two handfuls into
a 5 gal bucket, fill with water, and let soak for 2-3 days. Then add a
splash or two of fish emulsion, and a handful of epsom salts. Pour slowly
around the rose bush.

A lot of people in this newsgroup are fans of Osmocote, but i don't use it.
The roses that seem to be the happiest are the ones that get a bulk of the
muck that builds up at the bottom of my ponds filter. I just attach the
garden hose to the drain, and open the valve. Water & fertilize in 1 easy
lazy step.

Sameer


"Emil" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,

The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted
last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more
than
4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See,
not
being in denial is a good thing. :-)

So, what can I add to the soil on those roses, and on all the roses I
have.
I see Home Depot has some nitrogen I can add, how about that stuff? I use
mostly Supersoil or GroMulch (the yellow bags).

Emil
Zones 9-10