Okay, here is the issue. My rose garden, which is on the right of the path, is approximately 100 square feet ( I have no sense of space but I know I planted the sky pencils 13 feet apart so that is a huge guess on my part)....anyway...it's on a slope. What am I gonna do about weeds, groundcover, irrigation, erosion, etc.....
If I waited for the conditions of my rose to be perfect I would never have a rose...but I want to troubleshoot now and not when I am in a mess. I planted the roses far enough from each other (well not really) I wanted an abundance feel (got that from HolleyGarden's blog...Roses and other Gardening Joys) and ease of irrigation and to block out weeds....didn't say I knew what I was doing. I wanted a mulched look, maybe? I am certain the thing to do is have it graded, put in hardscape, hire an architect (okay, you get my point)...we do have to deal with the economics of the problem and think about our resources. I don't want to deal with weeds and grass between the roses....I thought making everything mulched and screened but then I have an erosion issue...plus I have to deal with irrigation on this steep slope.....I don't like raised beds but I do have lots of materials around. I need to address while my roses are still bare root and easy to work around.
Here is what I have...
- Wood chipper and lots of wood that can be mulched---maybe use this mulch between the roses?
- Black tarping...lots of it...but its slick and doesn't permeate like landscaping fabric and super slick so mulch will easily slide off of it....maybe use bricks or pins to keep mulch in place...this is not sounding good yet.
- Bricks and wood pieces.
- Hoses and sprinklers...
- An awesome husband who has engineering degree, a huge pile of tools, construction materials and an inability to refuse my requests when I whine.....:)
Not all of my bare root roses are in but you can see the proximity they are to each other. In continuing my search for an answer, my next step was go to the web. This is what I read on eHow...but would love suggestions...grass can be very aggressive when you DON't want it there...I like grass but I just want it to look nice.... Really open to suggestions...I was considering planting zinnia between them this year.
Back around the porch, I have been placing soaker hoses on a timer. This is a Don Juan bare root at the top of this picture...which I am wanting to climb up the corner pillar and a hydrangea which grows very fast.
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| I highly recommend a splitter? on your spigots. When I have irrigation systems in place I don't like unhooking it to get water. So I decided to put a splitter with a short hose so that I can still access water easily. |
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| I have temporary irrigation systems in place until I run pipes for irrigation. The new plants are needing to become established..like the bare roots so I make sure they get 10 mins from a sprinkler each morning. I actually have four sprinklers in place and they seem to cover the area...don't think I haven't considered keeping them there but I think that once the plants grow my placement of the sprinklers will be an issue...so irrigation is still up for consideration but for now it's working... |
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| The bare roots are leafing fairly well. I have a weedblocker around it and mulch on top. I like the red mulch's color but in the summer I think it makes plants much more thirsty because of the dark color. |
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| The bush in the front is a Gold Medal rose bush that I moved from a bad spot. When I moved it, I think it went into shock so I cut it. This was probably done in Novemeber. It looked like it was dying but roses do love prunings. It leafed up quite nicely. There is a sprinkler behind it. On the right, (you can't really see them) are Europenas. The soil changes quickly on the property. This area is more sandy and up the slope it's clay. In the back I planted a Florida Anise and azaleas but I am leaving this are a bit open for navigation....I think..... |
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| This is an Orlando and Peace rose. They were bought in containers at Christmas. |
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| I was making another path leading out of the pool area. This is pittosporum..I believe. |
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| Meanwhile back at the greenhouse, the other plants are grouped for easy watering. The cold frame worked out much better here. The strawberries that it used to house is still in the rose garden. Haven't decided whether or not to move them yet. |
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| The cold frame freed a lot of space up in the green house and the plants love them. At night, I cover them with a visqueen flap I have attached to one side. During the day it has a screened top. |
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| This is what they look like...there are too many plants here to name. |
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| Speaking of irrigation. Last year I watered for HOURS DAILY. This year I swore I wouldn't do that. I am lucky enough to have another well that was left on the property, so this year I am putting in pipes for irrigation and a dedicated well for watering. This is the new water pump...1.5 horsepower..not sure what the means but sounds cool. |
