The early spring is the best time to prune your roses. Now, if you live in an area that gets heavy snow, you might want to prune them before the snow flies. This will prevent the snow from breaking the canes. Prune about a third of the growth off. If you wait till spring to prune your roses, prune about 2/3rds of the growth off. The canes should be about 2 to 3ft high. This will keep the growth of your roses under control and you won't have wild looking roses.Prune all the dead growth off and leave 3 to 4 good canes remaining. Fertilize with a combo of fertilizer and systemic insecticide. You can find them in stores with names like Rose care, etc.If you do not want to use insecticides then when you see aphids on your roses, wash them off with water or add a little bit of soap to your water, then spray.

Black spot and powdery mildew are two of the most common diseases that plague roses.If you see this starting to happen, pick off the leaves and discard them. One way to avoid these diseases is to avoid over head watering. Build a basin around the base of the rose, about a foot or two and hand water. In the spring time you probably only have to water them, every few days. As the weather heats up you might have to water them every day. Check the soil and if it is moist a few inches down, then you are OK.

Planting them

If you buy your roses in the spring, they will most likely be bare root. Which means they are still dormant and are not planted in soil. They probably will have saw dust or something similar around the roots. Do not let the roots dry out. Roses are grafted--that little bump on them near the soil line. When planting them, do not cover soil over the graft. The rose will die. Add some organic matter to the hole and mix before planting.

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