I have not been there but I am aware of a lovely rose garden in Tyler.

Roses like an acidic soil. Lime would not be a good idea. Sphagnum peat moss is good for roses since it's acidic. I use Mono-Ammonium Phosphate 16-20-0 fertilizer since it's a cheap lawn fertilzer and is quite often on sale at the local mega-mart. It doesn't say on the package but it has 13% sulfate. Sulfate sulfur is readily available to plants.

I am not a fan of lasagna gardening. It is much better to compost all the materials since they will decompose faster in a large pile rather than spread out in a layer over the garden. Then incorporate the compost and peat into the soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mono-Ammonium Phosphate

Whoa. I gotta start at the beginning. I am only a fan of lasagna composting if it is done correctly (meaning, a layer of "brown" like leaves, covered by a thin layer of manure (yeah, brown, but really "green" if FRESH with high nitrogen), a layer of old compost or topsoil on top to provide the starter mycorrahizae, repeat, repeat. The order of composting products is important. Get the nitrogen (manure) OVER the carbon (leaves, paper, etc).
But let's get back to the basics. Horse manure is great IF it has been previously composted and "worked", usually in the weather for a year or two, otherwise if fresh it is too "hot" and can fry stuff in your planting beds. Now, if you use it as the nitrogen source to help your carbon rich leaves and "brown" materials compost, it can be good.
Lime is a no-no for roses, especially! Listen to cowgirl2!
My advice would be to study the basics of composting a bit, create some great compost with your materials, incorporate it into your soil (rototill), THEN plant roses.
The bottom line is: don't use fresh horse manure in the beds unless it has "worked" for a year or two!
Good luck with the roses!
Hortster

I am a fan of lasagna beds, never been disappointed by any I've made. I've never used manure as I live in suburbia and don't really have cheap or easy access to it. Many folks make lasagna with different recipes. Searching this forum alone brings up hits of 95 pages about it. Then, of course, there's always Google.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna

Roses grow most bestest in soils with a pH in the 6.2 to 6.8 range, the same soil pH most other plants prefer to grow in and the soil pH most all soil nutrients are most available. Whether your soil would need lime, or maybe sulfur, can only be determined with a good, reliable soil test. One information source states that Texas soils average 7.0 to 7.5, however Texas A & M suggests the east Texas soils may need lime indicating a lower soil pH.
Your best source of information would be your counties Texas A & M USDA Cooperative Extension Service office.

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas A & M CES

I think the additive you're talking about to assist in decomposition is called ringer. At least, that's what my neighbors use.

Here is a link that might be useful: ringer

And, so no one's confused, Round Up is not necessary in "lasagna gardening" or in any normal garden which employs mulch.

Because lasagna gardening is essentially sheet composting, there will always be the tendency for the materials to 'shrink' or reduce during the decomposition process. Planting permanent, woody based plants - like roses - too early in the process before the materials have composted fully will result in either their settling too low or the roots becoming exposed (not enough top cover).

I'd follow previous advice to compost first then incorporate the compost into the soil or wait until the bed is fully prepared before planting. With sheet composting or layering that may take quite a bit longer than if the compost was mixed in place, turned and aerated. And if the feed sacks are burlap, they will take time and consistent moisture to breakdown as well.

Just my opinion, but the lasagna method would not be my first choice for preparing a new rose bed.

I've got to agree that lasagna beds, while great for many things, are not intended for permanent plantings like you intend. The author never intended it as such yet many have taken it far beyond author intent - with mixed results.

Lasagna beds are not permanent beds. They need constant refreshing and building as they decompose and shrink so permanent plantings are stressed by that process and aren't the best use of them.

This is not to say that some don't try it - they do - but you need to recognize up front that it isn't the ideal.

Dave