Rose Garden Plans
for Designing The Garden

A beautiful Rose Garden starts with a solid design. Choose Rose Garden Plans that best suit your needs and likes. Many designs are possible from Formal to Naturalistic. The best gardens are personally designed to suit the gardner and the language of the yard, incorporating many different Rose Varieties.

Choose your site with care, taking into consideration the size of your yard and the shape and location of your home and other surrounding structures.

Consider the traffic pattern of people and pets. When choosing your site, keep in mind: Roses need at least 6 hrs. of full sun a day. Without sun the plants will not grow well, become spindly and produce few flowers! Roses also LOVE water, so having access to running water makes your gardening experience a whole lot easier!

When deciding on your rose garden design, consider exsisting trees and shrubs, because your new roses will be competing for sun, water, nutrients and air circulation.

When planning the garden, consider shrubs and grasses that will be the "heart of the garden". Look through books and magazines to get a feel for the type of garden you want. Then do some research on which varietys will do well in your planting zone. Then choose ones you like, keeping in mind plant sizes when full grown.

Although their are plenty of roses to fill any garden, Companion flowers share the stage with the roses to complete the garden. They can add interesting textures, and colors to compliment the roses. Even climbing roses can have a vining flower such as a Clematis intertwining with the roses, for added beauty. Another flower is the Sweet Pea, whos delicate flowers look fabulous planted with the climbing roses.

I've even planted Morning Glorys when the climbers are young, but beware, come fall, you have to remove all the dead vines of those once beautiful morning glorys ! (they are annual plants)

How To Plan a Garden

* Be realistic- Estimate how much time you can devote to the garden, and plan the size of the garden accordingly. You can always expand if your situation changes and you have more time.

*Set a budget- Quality plants, ornamentals like statues, fountains, walkways and fences are an investment you may want to make over time.

*Start simple and expand as time and money allow

Things to Consider * Sunlight roses need full sun of at least 6 hrs. a day In the hot South or arid South West,chose a site that will get full sun from morning until early afternoon, turning to shade in mid-afternoon.

* Wind Avoid sites in strong wind areas. Winds rob moisture from the plants, making them dry out. Strong winds also kill leaves and blossoms. In harsh climates, winter winds freeze- dry rose canes.

* Soil The soil is VERY important to maintaining healthy thriving plants! Almost any soil can be made suitable to grow roses. It should be well drained with lots of organic matter. A neutral to slightly acid range is best (pH 6.0-6.5) Loam is ideal rose garden soil. If your soil is sandy or clay, you can adjust it by adding peat moss, compost, leaf mold, grass clippings, etc. Preparring the planting bed in advance of planting the garden will reward you with the beautiful plants your dreaming of having! Your rose garden plans will fall short if you simply run out to the garden with shovel and plant in hand, dig a hole and stuff in the rose bush! YOU MUST PREPARE THE SITE/SOIL IN ADVANCE FOR GOOD RESULTS!!!

*Sketch the design with graph paper and colored pencils to map out your plan.

When finished you will have a plan to refer to as you build your garden. (don't worry if you have no artistic abilities, this is for your eyes only)

When designing your own

Rose Garden Plans

you will use colored pencils for showing the different varieties.(example;green for trees/shrubs, pink for pink roses, red for red ones, orange, yellow etc.etc.)This will give you a visual of which ones to put where.

Start by sketching in the exsisting landscape,especially mature trees and permanent structures.

While designing, feel free to draw in any extras you may want in the future, even though you won't be adding that particular this time around. If you know you want an arbor at the entrance, draw it in. Draw some red (or whatever color you like) roses climbing up it.

Arbors and Pergolas add the finishing touch to any garden. They also add a dimension of height, and give the climbers something to grow on! If you're handy in construction.. If your budget is a bit tight... Check out my Beautiful Pergola Designs

Color Choices

Thoughtful color combinations will give your rose garden plans a more pleasing effect.

Your garden will become a "work of art", therefore you must think of colors the same way an artist or designer does.

Combine your basic colors and then add complementary ones. You can pretty much have all the colors you want in your rose garden, you just have to be careful where you place them so the colors don't clash!

One problem is with red roses. Certain colors DO NOT look good planted side by side.

To soften this effect, if you happen to have two that seem to clash, you could either plant some white or yellow roses between them (space allowing), or you could add a softer color ( silver mound, catmint, blue grass, baby's breath, etc.)to break up the reds. Or.. simply move the plant.

Be creative in your Rose garden Plans!

When planning the garden, think of the garden as a whole, not just the roses.

Plan on using shrubs, and even some of the ornamental grasses (which are beautiful in your rose garden design!)

Plants with constracting color and texture, will compliment the roses.

Annuals such as Coleus work well planted with roses. They come in a very wide assortment of colors,and they flower all summer.

You might also like to read: Evergreen Plants
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