Spring will be here before you know it, and it will be time to feed your roses in preparation for the growing season. Whether you prefer the lazy man's schedule or like to get a little more hands-on, feeding your roses will greatly reward you in increased flower production and healthy green leaves.

Rose Feeding Basics

Those supplements are fine as well as periodic feedings, but I have found that roses do best with organic matter. Lots of nice compost and manure that has aged a bit so it no longer smells bad and won't burn. Put a mixture of it around the root ball when first planting, and then dig some into the soil every spring. It's a natural way to get healthy plants with lots of green and loads of blooms.

We also find that our roses respond very well to ice. We drop a bunch of ice, at night, so that it touches the bottom portion of the stems closest to the ground, and somehow that works wonders...

I've inherited a rose/blackberry jungle. I don't know what to do with it. I thought about digging up some from the roots and planting them in my sister's yard, ten miles away but the thought of wrestling with Georgia red clay is painful already. Any suggestions?

That sounds like a painfully thorny combo.

We had a blackberry/grapes mix. We wanted the grapes and the blackberries were a constant battle. You'd probably be better off with some type of poison because it's nearly impossible to get all the roots dug up. They'll just keep coming back. Are you trying to save the roses?

lol. I am trying to save the roses but the area is so thick a chainsaw may be needed. :-) My sister has plans for the blackberries (jam). I still don't know where to start.

If you want to keep the blackberries, I'd move the roses to a new bed and let the berries have the space all to themselves. There's nothing better than fresh blackberries. Yum!

That's a good idea. Thanks, Alice. :-)