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Roses
here2learn_z8

Own root vs grafted advice?

10 years ago

I posted this in the TX forum, but I thought I'd ask here in case the rose experts can chime in...

Some background for me: I want to plant roses (and irises, lavender, yarrow, statice, sweet alyssum...) in a narrow, ~ 5 ft wide bed next to my driveway in clay soil. I've bought compost, chopped corn feed, and alfalfa hay to try to amend the soil before I plant. The area gets pretty much full sun and any watering other than rain is manual. Because I don't want them to grow into the driveway or my neighbor's yard I want narrow, upright roses - I was looking specifically at Queen of Sweden, Tournament of Roses, Bewitched, and maybe Paris de Yves St. Laurent just because the pictures of that rose are so pretty.

Grafted pros seem to be that the roses might be able to better handle the heat and clay soil, the roses themselves will be of better quality, and the plants will establish faster (for myself, I don't care too much about instant gratification, but this would be a courtesy to my neighbors). Grafted cons seem to be that the rose bushes may grow much bigger than I want, I will have to take care of the bud union (cold protection, watch out for suckers), and some complain about the form of the bush itself.

What would you choose in this situation? Also, if you have any experience, advice, or other suggestions on my rose/plant choices, I'm all ears.

This was a long post - big thanks to anyone who read it through!

Featured Answer
  • 10 years ago

    If that site is as difficult as you portray it, grafted may be your better choice. Many own root plants require a significantly longer period to grow into the size of plant, with similar momentum of a first season, budded, bud and bloom canned plant. You should plan to grow the own roots up to probably a five gallon size before planting them out in that hot, clay situation. Small plants, whether own root or new bare roots, are "infants". At least with well handled bare roots, you have a two year old root system with a one year old top, and often a more vigorous root system than many own root types, so they frequently take off faster, allowing you to plant them in difficult conditions faster, with greater success. Often, an own root plant is, at best, a year old, frequently younger, and that's going to require some time to mature before it will be as able to endure hot, difficult conditions as well as a budded plant. But, it's your choice.

    Remember, too, difficult conditions, harsher situations, can often inhibit or dwarf the growth of any plant. If the soil is that heavy and the heat (both from above as well as reflected/radiated heat from the driveway) that extreme, they may not grow as large as they would in less severe conditions with less heat and better soil. You indicate you're in Zone 8. You shouldn't have to worry about "winter protecting" any bud unions. If anything, you may want to protect them from full, direct sun to prevent sun scald. But, that's also the case with rose canes in general.

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