"Susan Solomon" wrote in message
.. .
I've been reading and wondering; how have you planted your
roses? Do you
plant them in craters below the ground level to hold the
water, or do you
make earthen dams around the plants at ground level to
hold the water until
it soaks in? Plastic or concrete rings? And how do you
all water your
roses? Replaceable drip irrigation, or buried piping?

I'm planning my rosebed's watering setup (planned: fixed
setup; buried 1/2"
plastic pipe with one emitter at each rose) and am curious
how others are
watering their roses!

TIA!
Sue in SoCal

Most of my roses are planted in raised beds,
where I dug down in fine clay 9-10", and my
husband built up another 9" w/ landscape
wood. Soil is a mixture of clay and a locally
mixed "rose soil" that contains some sand, some
compost, and fine mulch. Drainage seems to
work; we've had several major floods since I
planted the beds and so far nothing has flooded
out. Drying out is another problem, however,
since the rose soil is much lighter than clay.

I also have roses planted just above ground
level using soil to raise the bed, and have some
minis and climbers planted at ground level.
Doesn't seem to make a difference: New Dawn
is in a raised wooden bed, Lavender Lassie is in
a slightly raised soil bed, Moody Dream (not
actually a climber, it just acts like one) is at ground
level and they all do splendidly.

I have soaker hoses around most of my roses.
We do get droughts around here, and soaker
hose is legal watering when nothing much else
is. Also, being under mulch, it's a more efficient
way to deliver water. I've also used sprinklers
when in the mood. I also have emitters for
most of the hoses which I use in addition to
the soaker hoses. (Sounds weird, but somehow
it makes sense to me.)

I started collecting rainwater several years ago
to use on the roses (our local tap water is very
alkaline and of course is chlorinated) but I now
have too many roses to use rainwater except
on new roses.

And I mulch the heck out of all my beds, whether
raised or ground level.

Gail
San Antonio TX Zone 8