Try These Tips for Designing a Rose Garden

By Twyla Ness

When you endeavor to learn rose gardening, a vast window is opened to you; not just with the intricacies of fertilization, pruning and growth, but also with the design of rose gardens themselves. Many traditions have been built up around the look of a rose garden. You can follow the great houses in England, France and other countries and create something very formal in geometrically rigid patterns, or you can develop something much more casual, allowing the roses to take some control of their own destiny.

You need to be aware of a few things before starting your rose garden, however. Since it will be created primarily from only one type of plant, any diseases, insects or other problems that affect only one rose bush will likely affect them all. However, some are more disease-resistant than others, so if you mix a few of those with the more delicate hybrid teas, you might lower the maintenance required. Also keep in mind that roses don't tend to look very attractive wrapped up in the winter, so you'll need to be content with enjoying the beauty of the garden in the warmer months.

You might, however, plant your rose garden with a hedge-like border consisting of miniature evergreens, so you will still have some green during the winter. This works well with more formal gardens, where flower beds or boxes are arranged in symmetric, precisely defined patterns. A formal garden utilizes straight lines, frequently with gravel walkways connecting beds, occasionally with a rose garden pool set in the middle. Conversely, you might favor a less formal display with the roses assembled together into one area. In this case, you'd organize them both by color and height, perhaps with rose ground cover along the sides of the bed to hide the bare ground.

In addition to all the types of roses you can choose from, there are many possible accessories for your rose garden as well. People often place a latticed arch along a path, so the roses can weave into and climb over it, and trellises are frequent elements in other places throughout these gardens. You might also set benches along pathways or in front of corner beds, and punctuate the paths with miniature roses in matching pots. With so many rose varieties and design patterns available, you can create a beautiful garden in whatever space you have.

As you set up your rose garden, you should know that there are a number of beautiful examples to follow. You will find books and websites full of pictures of gorgeous gardens, whether they are the less informal, rigidly laid out gardens of noble families in England, or more casual settings designed in someone's back yard. Even in a smaller location, it is possible to go for some degree of formality. As you grow your first rose bushes and choose how to design your area, you will discover all kinds of options open to you. - 32376

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