Debi Holland gives a step-by-step guide to planting roses in containers so that you can enjoy gorgeous blooms year after year.
How to plant roses in containers
Read the transcript
Here’s how I plant a rose in a container. First, dunk the nursery pot in a bucket of water to hydrate the roots.
Prepare the pot and compost. Choose a large pot with a drainage hole so the roots won’t sit in water. Put a crock over the hole to keep it clear. I use Richard Jackson’s peat-free Easy Compost, a compressed coir block that makes a crumbly mix when hydrated. Half-fill the pot.
Set the rose in place. In the video I set the graft union, where the stem meets the rootstock, around 5 cm below the compost surface. Follow the planting-depth instructions supplied with your rose. I sprinkle some mycorrhizal fungi around the roots using Richard Jackson’s Root Booster.
Fill, firm and water. Fill the rest of the pot with compost, firm it to remove air pockets and water well. Give the rose a feed as directed and put the container somewhere sunny.
