Mixed rose flowerbed

[monkeyboy]

I love the artificial rose flower walls that people use as backdrops for their parties. I want something similar in my back garden but with natural roses.

All of the roses would be from David Austin. As lockdown limits my ability to go in person, I’d be relying on the website.

Can rose bushes be encouraged to grow into each other to create this effect?
Would climbing roses work?
I would be growing against a neighbour’s fence so I imagine I would need to make some sort of long trellis (8m long, 2m high). Any suggestions for design or buying a kit or prebuilt one?
Is there anything else I’ve not thought about?

[burnie]

Putting anything against a fence, just remember access to it for painting it every now and then, you'll also need to think of the pruning requirements of Roses, one of the reasons you usually see gaps between them is access for this and also you'll need to be able to get under them to mulch with either manure or compost. Gaps are often wider than you might like for your plan as there's the thorns to think of avoiding too. What I have done is plant them in rows from left to right rather than front to back, you have the room to get in, but viewing from the front, it gives you the sort of view you are looking for. Whilst it is usual to put the larger plants at the back, I add the odd taller one at the front to give layers and depth. I use David Austin roses, they just seem to be better plants with less ailments that some others seem to be prone to.

[monkeyboy]

I've never grown any flowers so this will be an interesting project in terms of learning. Am I trying to do too much?

Putting anything against a fence, just remember access to it for painting it every now and then

Fence belongs to the neighbour, otherwise I'd affix the trellis to the fence. As it is, I'm looking at freestanding trellises that can be secured to the ground.

you'll need to be able to get under them to mulch with either manure or compost

Would a raised bed work better for this? A few boards knocked together to keep the compost and mulch from rolling into the lawn. I could fix the trellis to this instead.

What I have done is plant them in rows from left to right rather than front to back

Could you clarify this point? I'm unable to visualise what you suggest.

I figured single shrubs would need to be spaced too far apart for this to work, hence looking at climbing roses that I might be able to encourage to intertwine.

[burnie]

Roses fall into different categories and require different pruning to maintain them, access to each plant will be required to dead head them for a start. If you stand at the front of the bed, I would arrange the plants running parallel to the front edge, then have a path behind them for access, then plant another row behind the path you have made. So looking from the front the roses will look close together, but looking from the end you will see the space they need to grow, gives you access and also good air circulation for the plants health.

[monkeyboy]

If you stand at the front of the bed, I would arrange the plants running parallel to the front edge, then have a path behind them for access, then plant another row behind the path you have made.

Understood. Which also means my plan is unlikely to work since I was going to plant these in a border about 0.5m wide and 5m long. There wouldn't be any space for a path between them.

What do you think would be the best approach to attempt what I'm after?

[burnie]

You could use standard Roses, then you can underplant with either bulbs of annual flowers of your choice, that would give you a hedge effect at the top and still have access at the bottom, a bit more expensive option. I would go for alternating plants, with perhaps a rambling Rose at either end, a standard in the centre and maybe a smaller one either side.

[monkeyboy]

You could use standard Roses, then you can underplant

I was thinking along this sort of line after I had posted my reply. Maybe a few climbing/rambling roses, and then some short growing flowers or roses that would give me something approaching what I'm after.

[monkeyboy]

Okay, I've dug out some space in the garden since posting this thread and I've measured the space. I'm now planning a planter 3m long, 1m wide, with a 1.8m (6ft) high trellis.

I'm currently thinking about a climbing rose on either end, which I will hopefully be able to encourage to grow into an arch via the trellis. I'm then plant something in the middle. Can I get away with two smaller rose bushes in the middle? Or would I need to have one central bush?



This is what I was thinking.

Pink, orange, yellow and red roses.

[Jungle Jane]

Some rose bushes are quite small,here’s a small list of some of the award winning roses from the RHS
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/articl...mbers/10-roses

[monkeyboy]

As I was browsing the David Austin website, I noticed an email address to help with garden design. I know it’s only a planter but on a whim, I emailed them and got some advice. The main recommendation was to have either:

• one central climbing rose, with a shrub rose on either side
• two climbing roses and leave the centre for annuals or perennial flowers.

Either way, it sounds as though my plan of two climbing roses and one or two central shrubs won’t work in the space given. I’m not sure how large the planter would need to be for this to work.

The chap from DA recommended the planter to be raised off the ground, filled with 50/50 topsoil and multipurpose compost, and a drainage layer. What could I use for the drainage layer and how high should it be?

I also received some recommendations on roses plants to use for my planter so I’ll have a think about which ones to go for.