Old Garden Rose in a Vase provided by Lilian Perry.
Mulching Roses!
Roses will grow better if the beds are covered with a thick porous mulch.  There are many
advantages of mulching your roses.














There are many types of mulches you can use.  Here is a list, with advantages and
disadvantages.

















What each mulch provides for
soil conditioning, and providing the nutrients and humas
needed to grow roses.
1. Manures - best if aged.  Fresh manure used as mulches can burn and should be kept off the
bud union until they have aged.  Rabbit manure is safest, and fresh chicken manure is most likely
to cause burns.  
2.Grass clippings - are a good short-lived mulch but should be spread thinly after each mowing.  
They tend to mat and sometimes need to be stirred to allow water to penetrate.  Do not use
clippings if grass was treated with weed control or high nitrogen fertilizer, this will cause burning.
3.  Leaves make fine mulches if precautions are taken to avoid packing.  Oak
leaves are good; maple leaves tend to pack unless shredded.
4.  Bark, from whatever source, provides a good mulch and can often be decorative.  Pine needle
much is a very good material, if enough is used.

A mulch should be applied rather early in the growing season to obtain its maximum benefits,
such as on about the time of the first flush of bloom, after most of the spring basal canes have
made their appearance from the base of the bushes.
1.  A good mulch helps conserve moisture.
2.  Well-mulched beds require less frequent
watering and stay more uniformly moist.
3.  A good mulch, will help with weed control.  Mulch should be free of seeds.  Manure can
contain weed seeds.  Weed-free mulches such as cotton seed hulls, pine needles, leaves, straw,
bark and aged wood chips, etc, can go a long way towards relieving part to the onerous chore of
weeding.
4.  Mulches minimize the splattering of rain-borne black spot spores.  Mulches hinder the spread
of
disease.
5.  Good mulches keep the ground cooler in the summer, sometimes as much as 10 to 15
degrees in the heat of the day.  Thickness should be 2-4 inches.
6.  Mulch protects root damage from an unexpected early
freeze in the fall.
7. Mulch is one of the best insulators available.  
Organic Material
Good & Bad Qualities
Nutrients &
Humus
Bark
Long-lasting, but ties up nitrogen as it
decomposes.  Add 1 lb. actual nitrogen per 10
cubic feet of bark.  Needs to be shredded.
Humas
Sawdust
Ties up nitrogen as it decomposes, add 1/2 lb.
nitrogen per 10 cubic feet of sawdust.
Humas
Wood Ashes
Good source of potash the usuable form of
potassium.
Potassium
Leafmold
Somewhat more nutritive than newly fallen leaves.
Humas
Leaves Fallen
A tree withdraws most of the nutrients from its
leaves before they fall, but their fiber content is
excellent for soil texture.
Humas
Compost
Requires careful handling to generate sufficient
heat to kill disease organisms and kill wee seeds.  
Should be enriched with organic, or inorganic
fertilizers (nitrogen) to make a complete soil
conditioner.
Humas
Corncobs
Higher in sugar than most mulches.  So add extra
nitrogen to use up the excess sugar.
Humas
Cotton Seed Meal
Part of its nutrients are readily available, the rest
will be released slowly.
Nitrogen
Lawn Cuttings
Decays rapidly, must be replaced often.  Avoid
clippings treated with herbicides.
Humas
Cattle Manure
Often free for the hauling.  Can be highly saline, so
do not use in containers.  Must be thoroughly
decomposed or it will burn the plants.  Requires
large qualities if used as a fertilizer, but is excellent
for adding humas.
Humas
Chicken Manure
Generally the same as cattle manure.
Humas
Horse Manure
Generally teh same as cattle manure.
Humas
Sheep Manure
Generally the same as cattle manure, less odorless.
Humas
Peat, Sphagmum
The most widely availabe source of humas, hard to
wet, but retains water well.
Humas
Fish Scraps
Excellent fertilizer, should be uried to avoid the
odor and to prevent cats from stealing them.
Nitrogen
Hoof/Bone Meal
A good supplement for bark or sawdust.
Nitrogen
Blood Meal
The best organic fertilizer available, slow to break
down.
Nitrogen
Pine Needles used for Mulch.
Straw used for Mulch
Compost used for mulch
Disclaimer:   While the advice and information contained in this web page is believed to be true and correct, neither the authors nor board members
can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The Oklahoma Rose Society makes no warranty,  
expressed or implied with respect to the material contained herein
Oklahoma Rose Society