Chapter 21 (extract 1) of "Roses for English Gardens" by Jekyll and Mawley (1902), in which Mr Mawley describes techniques of manuring and the importance of manure to the production of prize blooms.
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Illustration: Exhibition Rose, Mrs Edward Mawley (Tea)
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See also: Roses for exhibition - techniques of cultivation; management of the blooms; at the exhibition.
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Manuring.—As Roses are gross feeders, it will be necessary to keep the plants well nourished by the threefold application of (i) farmyard or other animal manure, (2) artificial manure, and (3) liquid manure.
(1) In the autumn a good dressing of half -rotten manure—farmyard for preference—should be lightly dug into the beds between the plants, taking care to disturb the roots as little as possible.
(2) In March, and again in May, either Clay's fertilizer, or other artificial Rose manure, should be dusted around each plant, and afterwards mixed with the surface soil by means of a hand-fork. A small handful of either of these manures will be a sufficient application for each Rose.
(3) As soon as the flower-buds are formed the plants should be watered once a week with liquid manure. The first watering, especially if the soil be at all dry at the time, should be very weak. The strength of the liquid after this may be increased, but at no time should the colour be deeper than that of pale ale. An excellent liquid manure may be made by mixing in a tubful of water some fresh cow manure, soot, and guano, in the following proportions: three parts cow manure, one part soot, and one part guano. After these ingredients have been thoroughly mixed with the water, the concentrated liquid thus obtained should be freely diluted with clear water before being used. The day after each watering the surface soil should be hoed or lightly forked over to keep it open and accessible to light and air. It is often thought by non-exhibitors that the fine blooms they see at the Rose shows are almost entirely the result of heavy manuring. This is a great mistake, for the size and quality of the flowers depends much more on the free use of the hoe and the unremitting attention that exhibitors bestow on their plants than on the amount of nourishment they may have received in the way of manure.
Mulching.—On hot, dry, shallow soils, it will be necessary to cover the ground on which the Roses are growing with a layer of half-decayed manure in order to keep it moister and less liable to changes of temperature than it would otherwise be. This mulching should, however, not be put on earlier than the beginning of June. Mulching should be dispensed with wherever it is not absolutely needed, as a frequent loosening of the surface soil is no doubt preferable to any such covering.
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More: Roses for exhibition - techniques of cultivation; management of the blooms; at the exhibition.
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