Planting small rose bush - how deep should the soil be?

C

Complainer

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I'm planting out a small rose bush 'Savoy Hotel' variety, if that's significant. The best spots in the garden for sun have fairly shallow soil, due to underlying rock. I'd say the soil would be something like 400-500mm deep.

Would the rose thrive in this depth of soil, or would I be better in a more shady spot with deeper soil?
 
If it's a dwarf variety you should get away with it. Pack around it with good compost/manure. Dig double width to accomodate sideways root growth. Roses tolerate light shade/semi shade as well. If rock causes surface water, plant in the shadier spot.
 

You are there, or thereabouts, regarding depth...
From
[broken link removed]
Selecting a Planting Site
While roses mainly need sun and water, here are a few more points to consider when [broken link removed]:

  • Roses need 5 to 6 hours of direct sun each day. Morning sun is best, but light afternoon shade is tolerated and even beneficial in hot climates.
  • Good air movement helps dew and rain dry quickly, which discourages disease. Plant your roses 2-3 feet apart, or away from other plants to ensure it gets enough breathing room. Rose also don't like very windy areas either, so if there's a prevailing wind in your garden, plant your roses near the shelter of a building, wall, fence or hedge.
  • When you dig the hole to plant your rose, check the area's drainage by filling it with water before you drop in the plant. An area with good drainage will empty within several hours, and will ensure that its roots won't rot when watered, or freeze in winter.
    If necessary, you can easily improve drainage with tilling or raised beds.
    If the soil seems too sandy, or is thick like clay, add organic matter like compost, dehydrated cow manure or shredded bark. Remove any large rocks down 18 to 24 inches deep.
  • Don't plant near large trees or shrubs. They compete for light, water and nutrients. Avoid eaves or gutters - bushes may be damaged by falling water, snow or ice.
  • Consider designing in groups of three of one variety. Not only do mail-order companies sell roses cheaper in groups of threes, but you'll get more impact for the money.
Only suggestion (for that site) would be to raise the bed a little if possible...
HTH
 
Crugers is right. Roses prefer sunlight, they will do less well in shady areas, but it's possible to grow em there and get a decent plant. Look at the Rose Gardens in St Annes Raheny and you'll see what I mean. Those in the most direct light do best, but the one's in semi-shade or partial shade do well too. If you could raise the bed up a little higher, that would be great. Drainage is very important. Roses hate being waterlogged. If this is a problem, plant elsewhere. You could include some broken pot pieces under the plant to improve drainage, if needed.
 
Good advice from Crugers. Looking at your post Complainer I would suggest that the soil depth might be a bit shallow with solid rock so close to the surface. You would expect water to run off such rocky outcrops but it depends on the topology of the site you could get a basin of water pooling underground on top of a large rock. I have had such a problem. Raising the soil level may be the only solution. It is borderline to know if the plant you suggest will "trive" in such a location as it stands.
 
My favourite garden plants are roses, and I have about 20 of them. At 400-500mm you have should have sufficient depth for loads for those roses. The roots for roses won't need much more depth than that to establish and grwo. My rose garden has about the same level of soil.
 
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