Talk about the ultimate let down.Should have know what you meant.

HA HA HA! I'm telling Kate. (not)

Too late. I already read it! LOL. Remember, it would be a THORNY large circular bed, Pete!

About your question, redsox, I try to set up my beds so that I have stepping stone paths that allow me to access the plants. That way, the only thing that gets compacted is the path itself. Compacted clay would be terrible for your roses--avoid at all costs! Depending on how large the circle bed is, you could have a north-south path and an east-west path intersect in the center (and put a bird bath there?). Or you could bisect the circle with a curvy path that meanders to the other side while allowing you to reach all the roses.

That's my best suggestion. Maybe other posters will come up with other ideas.

Kate

I have a heart shaped bed and I added roses to it this year. I have a small tree in the middle that will probably get to about 15 feet high. I don't mind some shade since it gets so hot here.

I don't see a problem with compressing the soil. You aren't going to be walking right underneath the roses. And in clay, the roses will send long shallow roots out anyway, not deep ones. I also have a deep oval bed in front of my house and I walk thru it all the time. This past spring I dug up few roses that were in the front and they had long (up to 10 ft) roots all over the place, but right under the mulch.

I though round rose beds were traditional. I'd put some taller ones in the middle and lower growing ones in front.

In my front yard I have a round bed which is full of rose petals today, we had some gusty winds last evening. I also have three rose bushes that I am removing, I am going to replace the soil with some new dirt and compost but I will not be putting any roses in it for next year....all my roses will go in the back yard but I have a "L" shape bed that is closer to the house that has 6 roses in it which will stay.
I stand in my rose beds all the time, there is not much room though and occasionally I will get nicked by a nasty thorn from a rose cane.

For the middle, put in a large shrub like Erfurt, Sparrieshoop or a hybrid musk like Ballerina or Penelope, or an old rose like Celsiana or Mme. Plantier. They require less tending-to and will have the size and spread to give you a nice centerpiece. You could also grow a healthy climber like Dortmund on a vertical support. (If you spray, you could grow Altissimo which is stiff but the blooms are a glorious red.) We have a circular bed here with a large OGR in the middle surrounded by 6 plants of Little White Pet. Stepping stones idea is a good one! Oh, and so is a long-sleeved denim shirt!

I have a huge circular bed in my front yard with a flagpole in the center, and a stone walkway leading to the flagpole. In 3 concentric circles, I have roses planted. I believe there are 6 in the circle closest to the flagpole, then 10 in the next circle, and 17 in the 3rd circle. In addition, I have Veteran's Honor alternating with Whisper along the pathway leading to the flagpole. Around the very outside of the bed (the last 2 feet or so in front of the final circle of roses) I plant low-growing annuals for constant color - petunias, begonias, vinca, etc. I get lots of compliments on how nice it looks all summer long, and I also like the look.

{{gwi:321273}}
This is not quite a circle, but around it I have many many roses. Inside I plant different plants along with roses. This ultimately has about 20 roses, and it works.

Sammy

It will only work if you use this layout for the path.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:327688}}

LOL! Michael!

Lots of great ideas here, including Michaelg's. I'd love to have a maze in my garden if I had the space and patience to create one.

I would still worry about "compacted" "clay," the two issues Redsox raised in the beginning. To me, that sounds like a drainage problem in the making. I certainly wouldn't traipse through clay after a rain or watering, at the very least.

Kate

Ditto, Kate. I would never step on wet clay or silt in the garden. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing a geriatric version of the "Twister" game trying to get at a weed with my foot on a stepping stone or wall edge. If the soil is crusted over or if there is a very deep solid mulch like wood chips or bark chips, then OK.

Thats the beauty of sand,man.
No mud
no frozen ground.

Mulch takes care of wet muddy clay. If you have clay, you have to have mulch or you wind up with cement.

Thorns.
Coming at you from all sides.
The bigger the circular rose garden, the more thorns will get you. As to where the thorns will get you, I'll let you use your imgination.

At last, I can help someone out! I know it is not what you are trying to do with your bed, but this is the closest I could come to helping. Maybe it will inspire someone else. This garden was planted this year. I love my circular Garden.The boxwood define the space while I am waiting for the roses to grow in. I still have about 30 or so to plant in that area. I have been transplanting. You can have two circles seperated by a path like mine is. Eventually mine will have three circles of rose.I have about two hundred roses which can be seen in the background in the second photo. (It does not look like that many from my photo) Go for it! {{gwi:327692}}{{gwi:327694}}{{gwi:327695}}

I am working on a bed that is an odd shape- sharply angled along two sides, then more rounded along the front and remaining side. I am planning a path that circles the center and a large rosebush w/ a couple small benches in that area. I am planting roses, peonies and small evergreens, gardenias, I think. I just planted my first rosebushes in there today- Folklore, Playboy and Deep Secret. I hope it works out... Good luck w/ yours. Brandy

I have a large, circular rose bed divided by two crossing paths to make four quadrants. It works just fine and I rarely have to get into the middle of a quadrant.

I have two large circular beds. I put a path through the middle side to side. I planted a climber on either side of that path and then roses around the edges. I can manage from both sides that way. Without the path, no way.

Pete41 and Michaelg, you are funny!

I have some wide beds, getting wider as the lawn continues to vanish. A few strategically placed flagstones or stepping stones where you habitually need to step is a good idea. A few nice flagstones are attractive and add some visual variety.

One guy here in California recommends just keeping a board or piece of plywood handy to lay down temporarily as a place to step--the board distributes the weight so the soil doesn't suffer so much compaction and your shoes don't get so dirty. I'm not that organized!

Maybe I should just go on a diet. I have about 4-5 pounds left to lose.

Actually I should not have said a LARGE circular bed. I was misleading. It will probably only be about a 12 foot circumference. Also the ground is slightly elevated at the back, and the back is not as visible to the road. So I had planned to put taller in back, middle in middle and short in front.

What do you think I could fit in there? Someone in my local Rose Society suggested a couple of floris and the rest minis but that doesn't float my boat.

Did you mean to say a 12' diameter?

or radii

Yes. And I didn't mean a 12 inch diameter either or I could only put in one mini.