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

Susan Solomon wrote:

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?

Level with ground but with very large hole of amended soil underneath.
In very deep clay, I occasionally add drainage channels. My yard is
sloped.

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!

I use the same: drip with shrubler emitters. On a few roses, I am
experimenting with circles of 1/4 inch dripperline at the drip line:
http://www.dripirrigation.com/cgi-bi...r/prodpages/tu
be/t022.htm?L+drip1+qqbc6069+1049927739

If I had a rose bed all by itself, I might experiment with the 1/2 inch
dripperline: pressure compensating, self-purging. You have to be
careful about soil getting sucked into the line when the water is
turned off, so it is often put under the mulch and not the soil.

One thing I've had lots of problems with: buried 1/2 inch dripper
tubing. It is too easy to pierce when weeding and then almost
impossible to find the leak (til you get a water bill). I believe in
putting it under the mulch so that leaks can be detected by a geyser
and then easily repaired.

Still, when it gets really hot, I do supplemental hose watering once a
week with a Dramm head.

"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!


I'm basically lazy, so I couldn't be bothered to place plastic rings around
it, and concrete rings don't look that great to me. Pushing extra dirt into
a little dam with a shovel is easy, and with the clay soil we have here, it
lasts the season.

I use the conventional spray sprinkerheads, because I'm too lazy to switch
it to drip. Once a week or two, three when I clean the ponds filter, I dump
2-5 gal of really mucky pond water over the root ball of each rose. Watering
& feeding made easy.

Sameer

"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

"Susan Solomon" writes:

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?

Susan, I plant them at ground level then build a 2-3" earthen dam about 18"
across. Gives me something to keep the water near the roots until they get
started. I put mulch over the entire area and the dam is invisible. Don't
know how much, if any, it helps, but it makes me feel better.


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!


I started with PVC pipe and a bubbler at each rose. When I only had six it
worked well. As I added and moved roses, the bubblers were no longer in the
right locations. After adding to and revamping the system twice, I gave up on
it. Now I use soaker hoses making a circle around the base of each plant. The
hoses I have are made from recycled tires and kind of drip water out. The
oldest ones are probably 4 years old and still doing well. It is buried under
the mulch so it's invisible and hidden from the sun. It's easy to change when
I move and/or add roses and has worked well for me.

In Unique Too wrote:
Susan, I plant them at ground level then build a 2-3" earthen dam
about 18" across. Gives me something to keep the water near the roots
until they get started. I put mulch over the entire area and the dam
is invisible. Don't know how much, if any, it helps, but it makes me
feel better.

Me too. Without a small 'crater' the run-off makes watering impossible
on my soil. Just be wary that you don't overdo it, as a crater can be
the death of a rose in poorly drained soil. I speak from experience :-(

I've been reading and wondering; how have you planted your roses?

I make little dams around the roses when I first plant them. They get filled
with the water/Quick-Start solution, then on goes the "landscaping paper"
then about four inches of mulch. I am sure the dams don't last that long
under all that, with watering, but as long as they do the job while the rose
is "new" that's fine with me.

The big garden has soaker hoses snaked around the roses, attached with
lengths of hose. It terminates at the edge of the garden, near the outdoor
spigot. I have a hose that I uncouple off it and store in the winter so it
doesn't freeze. I don't want the hose laying permanently across the lawn
from the big garden to the spigot, which is where the smaller rose garden
is. I have one of the inexpensive twist timers from Walmart, and a five way
coupler. One way goes to the big garden, one goes to the smaller one against
the house, also with soakers, and a third to the rock/climbing rose/verbena
garden, which has drip hose. Another has a regular hose that I use for
watering the container roses, and the fifth is left open for washing hands
or whatever. If it's been dry, I set it for an hour in the evening, and let
it go. It was very inexpensive, as I found the rest of the pieces at Lowes
in their commericial irrigation department...not in the garden section at
all. It was perfect, as I could buy exactly the pieces I needed. I started
with the $14.97 Walmart kit, added a few tee's and extra lengths of hose,
thinking I'd just do the "behind the house" roses, which total about a
dozen. Then I realized it would be not too much more trouble, once I had the
five way coupler, to run soakers in the big garden, and use the regular hose
to connect them as necessary.

I did purchase a small inline tank to add a fertilizer to the slow drip,
although I have not yet used it.

Cheap, effective, efficient, invisible, and entirely legit under the drought
guidelines for limited water use in our area. And of course, the benefit of
depriving blackspot of its favorite breeding grounds, wet foliage.

When I use the hose at all, it's when I'm applying the usual spray program.


Scopata Fuori


One bud so far, on a mini!!! And a baby mini, from Springhill Gardens, will
wonders never cease! The Fairy, Bonica, Frederic Mistral, Jean LaJoie, Red
Cascade, and Climbing White Dawn completely leafed out...if we'd just have a
nice weekend so I can plant more...

"Scopata Fuori" writes:

The big garden has soaker hoses snaked around the roses, attached with
lengths of hose.

I have a small area with three roses that isn't on the soaker hose because I
didn't want to run a hose all the way across the front yard, I didn't want to
waste the water by running a soaker hose across the walkway nor did I want the
walkway wet everytime I watered. When I first read this I thought you meant
you used a piece of regular hose between two soakers and thought What a great
idea! In rereading it I expect I was incorrect, but it still gave me a great
idea. I'll work on that this weekend. My roses thank you!

"Unique Too" writes:

The big garden has soaker hoses snaked around the roses, attached with
lengths of hose.

I have a small area with three roses that isn't on the soaker hose
because I
didn't want to run a hose all the way across the front yard, I didn't want
to
waste the water by running a soaker hose across the walkway nor did I want
the
walkway wet everytime I watered. When I first read this I thought you
meant
you used a piece of regular hose between two soakers and thought What a
great
idea! In rereading it I expect I was incorrect, but it still gave me a
great
idea. I'll work on that this weekend. My roses thank you!


Hello UT,

that is exactly how we resolved the problem
with our soaker hoses. We have the big long
beds on the east side - particularly the one in
"the middle" that has soaker hoses running from
the periphery into the center and the spigot is
wayyyyyyyyyy down at the entry of the back
gate. At the Home Despot they have extra
attachments of every possible ilk for hoses
and we cut a regular hose, attached a
coupler to it and did the same with the end
to the soaker hose, male to female and so
forth making sure we left the female at the
end of the soakers and have the male
in the regular hose. That way we can move
the regular hose from bed to bed and it is
a cinch.

One suggestion? We found a short shepherd
hook that works great and it gets hidden among
the "corn" where to hang the length of regular
hose to keep it from getting gritty or from
filling with dirt. I nearly scared a poor little tree
frog to death one morning when I went to
connect the hose and that was enough for me.

I am out of here. Wouldn't you know it? we are
off for the weekend and for the first time in two
weeks something yellow is way up there...roses law
as opposed to Murphy's or in accordance to?
Have a great weekend, are your roses blooming?

Allegra

PS: and you are right. We are getting two Cherokees
from Chamblee. I just got an e telling me they are
shipping them the 28th of this month. Cat smile!

http://store.hansenironworks.com/skuSS.html

When I first read this I thought you meant
you used a piece of regular hose between two soakers and thought What a
great
idea!

Yes, that's exactly what I meant...I ran the solid hose from the spigot to
the long rosebed, and couple it onto the end that I leave just barely
peeking out the side of the bed. When I want to use it for regular hose
duties, I can unplug it and screw the sprayer on it. I do have a spare hose,
though, that I can just screw onto one of the five-way spouts, if I want to
just leave it on there full time.

I don't like to leave the hose laying across the yard all the time, because
it is prone to get nicked by the lawn mower, and it kills the grass
underneath, as well as being an obvious sign of water consumption. So I
usually roll it back up on the wheel.

There's two small (six and three) rosebeds by the spigot, and the kit plus a
couple bucks worth of extra hose and connectors made easy work of that.

Although the hose spray nozzles are cheap, it really is worth taking the
time to find a good quality one. I found a really nice one at Home Depot
last year, had three spray nozzles on a card, with all kinds of settings,
for $5.98. And they were heavy duty, to withstand the type of use I give
them. I still think it was a mistaken price, as I saw them for up to $14,
for just one nozzle, but another brand.

You mentioned you had a small area with three roses that isn't on the
soaker...I would suggest checking out the Better Homes and Gardens kit at
Walmart for $14.97, which will give you enough materials to encircle five
roses with soakers. Also, they sell the individual parts, so you can add on
or modify the setup.

You can get an inexpensive adapter to attach the kit setup to your regular
hose, so you're extending the irrigation to the three separate ones.

The kit would probably not be efficient for large beds, because you can buy
systems designed for larger areas, but for small areas like yours and mine,
that are off to themselves, it is perfect.

I thought about the Aqua Cones, and may still do this, for infusing potions
of systemics, phosphorus, and other wettable substances I don't want applied
to the leaves, and to pinpoint the application. I'd use milk jugs but they
are butt ugly, and they'd end up blowing around and looking terrible. I
don't like to waste so much by scattering it where it can't be used by the
roses, and dislike the idea of draining so much fertilizer and chemical
concoctions into the ground to be dispersed into the ecological system.


Scopata Fuori

On Wed, 09 Apr 2003 05:54:17 GMT, "Susan Solomon"
wrote:

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?

I plant high, mound the dirt, then dig a moat. Works fine. The main
problem I see is insufficient watering or watering systems. I am very
patient when I water with the hose--my only way of watering as I have
never installed irrigation such as soakers etc. I let it soak in, then
return, let it soak in, return, etc. I would have to watch any
watering system closely to be sure it waters as well as I do twice a
week. Patience is sometimes warranted--and this is one of those times.

"Allegra" writes:

One suggestion? We found a short shepherd
hook that works great and it gets hidden among
the "corn" where to hang the length of regular
hose to keep it from getting gritty or from
filling with dirt. I nearly scared a poor little tree
frog to death one morning when I went to
connect the hose and that was enough for me.


I liked the link you sent with the shepherd hooks. They have some very nice
ones. And what a good idea to keep the ends off the ground. I ususally have a
spray nozzle on the hose when it's not on the soaker but the soaker tends to
get buried in the dirt. I could just leave that end on a hook and keep it
clean.

I am out of here. Wouldn't you know it? we are
off for the weekend and for the first time in two
weeks something yellow is way up there...roses law
as opposed to Murphy's or in accordance to?


How was the weekend? I hope you enjoyed yourself and rested up for the next
strech of work.


PS: and you are right. We are getting two Cherokees
from Chamblee. I just got an e telling me they are
shipping them the 28th of this month. Cat smile!

No comment. vbg

Yes, that's exactly what I meant...I ran the solid hose from the spigot to
the long rosebed, and couple it onto the end that I leave just barely
peeking out the side of the bed. When I want to use it for regular hose
duties, I can unplug it and screw the sprayer on it. I do have a spare hose,
though, that I can just screw onto one of the five-way spouts, if I want to
just leave it on there full time.


I didn't get out there with weekend as planned. Just didn't have the energy to
face the traffic to HD or the marts for the hose ends. I have the hoses and
soakers, but I'll have to cut them and put on ends. Hopefully this week I'll
get off early one day and stop. Funny how my car just heads for home when I'm
off work. For some reason it doesn't want to stop anywhere.

I don't like to leave the hose laying across the yard all the time, because
it is prone to get nicked by the lawn mower, and it kills the grass
underneath, as well as being an obvious sign of water consumption. So I
usually roll it back up on the wheel.


That was part of my plan, keep the hose off the lawn. Right! I finally took
the reel down, it wasn't used for months. If you let the grass grow a little
tall it hides the hose very well. g