I have a hillside that gets full sun. How much and how often do we need
to water carpet roses? We also have lantana and rosemary planted on the
hillside.
TIA
Ron

"Ron" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a hillside that gets full sun. How much and how often do we need
to water carpet roses? We also have lantana and rosemary planted on the
hillside.
TIA
Ron

What kind of soil? Plants in clay have different
water requirements than plants in sand (to mention
extremes).

Whereabouts are you? If you don't get much
heat that dries out soil, you won't need to do
as much watering (all else being equal) compared
to an area that gets a lot of heat).

Is the hillside bed mulched? That not only keeps
temperatures more even than with no mulch,
but helps keep soil from drying out.

By "full sun" do you mean all day (8 hrs plus)
or less? I have a friend whose back yard is
full of big trees. There are spots that get
full sun - but not for very long!

What do you mean by carpet roses? Minis?
Ramblers? If you don't know their actual
names, can you describe them (generally)?

I have both lantana and rosemary and find
them fairly drought tolerant. I.e., I water
them a lot less than I water my roses. OTOH
some roses (like minis & ramblers) generally
require less water than their bigger brothers.

Gail
near San Antonio TX USA Zone 8

I am in southern California, sandy soil with no amenities and at least
6 hours a day of sun. The lantana and rosemary is very drought
resistant and we water twice a week. soil dries completely in one day.
We are looking for a ground cover that is low maintenance and not as
woody as the lantana or rosemary. some one suggested carpet roses ???
Thanks,
Ron

"Ron" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am in southern California, sandy soil with no amenities and at least
6 hours a day of sun. The lantana and rosemary is very drought
resistant and we water twice a week. soil dries completely in one day.
We are looking for a ground cover that is low maintenance and not as
woody as the lantana or rosemary. some one suggested carpet roses ???
Thanks,
Ron

Hi Ron -

I have heavy black clay soil so very different soil
conditions from you! However, from rose books
I know roses can grow in almost any soil but
you need to add amendments (like compost).

There are usually available several different
rambling roses that eventually make a good
"carpet". One I use is Red Cascade. I think
The Fairy is another, but a local nursery that
deals in roses should have recommendations.
Or you can google "rambling rose" (ignoring
the music sites g).

Key is to make sure they get a good start,
which means more frequent watering. Although
if you amend the planting hole(s) with compost
that should help water retention a bit.

If you plant now (summer), you should water
at least every other day, or even daily. With
sandy soil, as you noted, water runs out pretty
quickly. Newly planted roses tend to be
sensitive to the sun at first so you might get
some leaves drying out, but as long as you
have more green than brown leaves, and new
growth (leaves) in a few weeks, the plant is
probably doing ok.

Don't use fertilizers when planting roses at first.
Do use seaweed (if you can find it and you
should be able to where you are). Follow
instructions on the bottle for transplanting,
generally 1 tbl seaweed per gallon of water. It
makes a great (and safe) root stimulator and
is good for all plants.

Depending on the space you want to cover,
figure on the mature size of any roses.
Ramblers can sprawl quite a bit. My
Red Cascade, if not cut back, will send out
canes up to about 6-8' in length!

It takes a few years to get dense coverage,
so you need to be patient if you want to use
roses for this purpose.

There are various basic articles at the American
Rose Society web site: www.ars.org

HTH - Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 14:30:21 GMT, "Gail Futoran"
wrote:

"Ron" wrote in message
roups.com...
I am in southern California, sandy soil with no amenities and at least
6 hours a day of sun. The lantana and rosemary is very drought
resistant and we water twice a week. soil dries completely in one day.
We are looking for a ground cover that is low maintenance and not as
woody as the lantana or rosemary. some one suggested carpet roses ???
Thanks,
Ron

Hi Ron -

I have heavy black clay soil so very different soil
conditions from you! However, from rose books
I know roses can grow in almost any soil but
you need to add amendments (like compost).

There are usually available several different
rambling roses that eventually make a good
"carpet". One I use is Red Cascade. I think
The Fairy is another, but a local nursery that
deals in roses should have recommendations.
Or you can google "rambling rose" (ignoring
the music sites g).

The only Fairy rose I've seen is a rounded bush shape. There's one
doen the street from me.

Of course, I've got a Fairy (Cl), but it's a true climber, not a
rambler.

Let me put in a plug for The Fairy (Cl). Very vigorous and fairly
disease resistant. While the adjacent Old Blush (Cl) gets hit hard
with black spot, the Fairy only is mildly affected, and they actually
grow intertwined at the margins. In the middle of the fourth season,
this plant is really full and lush. Most of it grows in the shade from
about June on and the other half is hemmed in by Old Blush (Cl).
Between the two plants, I've got about 35 feet of fence completely
covered after 3 1/2 years.

No aroma though.