Fortunately in Cincinnati, it's mainly rain except for the odd potted plant that may need a hose. I collect in rain buckets and just dip into them. I hand water roses for their first year if there's no rain for over a week. SN, I have quite a few posts saved about drip systems and some of them don't seem that complicated upon re-reading for a home owner to install. I think if you asked for help you'd get a lot of suggestions!!! If we had longer periods of drought like we had late last summer I would consider it. I just stopped watering, but I got fewer blooms at that time. It's even possible to set it up for pots and some programs incorporate rain etc and water based on that. The Californian on here know a lot about it. I'll see if I can find some of my links if you like. Great question.

Rain?

Seriously, unless it's newly planted or a couple weeks without rain they are on their own. In the case of no rain I either use a hose in the morning while drinking my morning tea or my husband will fiddle around and get the DIY drip system which is never dripping in the right places closer to the right places.

I enjoy watering by hand. The kind of rain we get during the summer months are 30 second showers that don't amount to anything except to cool us off. I water in sections. By the time I get to the last section, it's time to start over. Takes about a week. Hand watering gives me a chance to get a good look at each rose for signs of trouble. I can put the hose down and let it drip into the well while I deadhead or pull weeds, then move on to the next one. Another advantage is that some roses need more or less water than others.

Mulching is the key to not being a slave to watering. Unless it's blazing hot, I can skip a week when the roses are mulched well.

I am retired and that makes a big difference. If I only had weekends or a couple hours after work, I would have to have a drip system, and I will probably put one in someday.

Lol. Rain doesn’t cut it here. We frequently go months with high temps and no rain. I’m trying to do away with most of the high maintenance companion plants so that the only things I need to water are the roses. But even so, it is quite a task and I’m looking at drip irrigation or soaker hoses, too.

I like watering EVERYTHING with my hose twice a week during the growing season. This way I can see exactly what is going on with each plant. Also during the hot, dry summer months I wash everything down while I water. This keeps the spider mites under control.

Please keep in mind when comparing strategies that I'm sure @Ken Wilkinson has nicer roses and better results than I do!

Also, that Middle Tennessee gets upward to 50 inches of rain a year. Unfortunately it never seems to be evenly distributed!

Apparently, this is the rainfall for my area in the growing season.

March

5.4 inches

April

3.6 inches

May

4.0 inches

June

3.6 inches

July

5.1 inches

August

3.7 inches

September

4.1 inches

I am still struggling to understand how much an inch is and all that, but what I know is that when I left my roses to fend for themselves last year over the summer, they were a defoliated black spot hot mess when I got back. They clearly need regular supplemental water. Sometimes I wonder whether the roots even get to drink anything when it rains SOME but not enough for the water to soak in through all the mulch I have around them.

If it was just my five roses it wouldn't be such a big deal; but I also have some containers with annuals and the front bed which is rather large. The watering starts to feel oppressive over the summer as the requirements for containers with annuals are almost daily.

I can see how hose watering is best though considering the plants receive regular individual attention.

Severe_Novice I think the general rule of thumb is 1" of water a week, so it's more of how that 4" a month comes...all at once or once a week. A rain gauge in your garden is a big help.

Although hose watering is good, in terms of effective use, a drip systems is what I'd probably consider "the best." When added with a regular check of your plants it's a good plan..

Wow!. We get about the same as subk3 and even more some years. I would thought you got more in GA so that's a great number to have. I've read roses need about an inch a week. You can get a rain gauge to keep better track. I do walk my roses most everyday with clippers and a dish of soapy water during JB season, but can see how watering is a good time to check everything. One crazy thing that I found useful last year was using the holes that had sprung in the long hose I use to water multiple roses at a time! LOL! I have too many roses to water them all regularly though. We also have moisture retentive clay/loam so that helps immensely.

I would love a drip system but I just water by hand when it doesn't rain for more than a week.

The drip system is obviously a very smart idea; but to my non-engineering mind, it sounds too much like rocket science to put it together.

SN, I think if you read some posts on just one type and took it a step at a time you could do it if you wanted sometime in the future.

Ok folks, since some of you would like a drip system that doesn't require a rocket engineering degree I'll put one together and post it. May take a while but I'l getter done.... :-)))

I have two systems in mind. One that isn't connected to the house water but does require you to fill up the water source as it runs dry. The other just uses the house water system and a timer -- plus a few other components.

I'll include the maker and price of the units so if Houzz isn't going to cut me off, so please advise.

To be continued....

toolbelt68,

That would be much appreciated!

toolbelt: how kind of you! I look forward to seeing your drip design.

severe_novice....there is a YouTube channel called Garden Answer that has some great videos on how to set up a simple drip system. They just have great videos in general about all gardening topics!

I have the world's most complicated drip system :) It works really well, but it takes me, my engineer husband, and our landscaper to run it! I can completely control it with my cell phone, which is fun. I currently have over 35 zones, and many more to be hooked up!

I have tried all the methods of irrigation, and I think drip is the best for roses. Actually, I think the combination of drip and dedicated hand watering is the absolute best. You use your drip as the main water source, but you keep an eagle eye on it and check your roses frequently, like you would if you hand watered. Also, if you rely on drip, it's nice to do an overhead watering every once in a while during the summer if its been dry...to wash the foliage and sort of refresh everything.

edited to add: the drip tube I use is called Netafim...it's awesome!

Rosylady,

I certainly follow Laura - she is so colorful and appealing in her presentations. :)

And I watched some of her demonstrations on the drip too but it still looked fuzzy to me. I will maybe pull it off one day - but for now, with only 5 roses I will hopefully be able to keep up with hose watering.

Your rain in Georgia should be adequate without a drip system.