Adorable Rose Tree Garden - Adding Then to Your Landscape

One of the hot, new items for those looking to add roses to their landscaping schemes is to create a rose tree garden. Unlike rose gardens that feature shrub or climbing roses and have to be planned more or less on one level, gardens which feature tree roses can add a whole new level to the way the garden can look. They add a vertical dramatic element, towering above normal rose bushes.

Strictly speaking, tree roses, unlike other rose varieties, are not a true rose variety created by nature at all. Rather, they were created by nursery owners several decades ago employing a regime of very careful grafting. To get the desired treelike appearance, a bush or a climbing rose simply is grafted onto a straight trunk. They are made from three separate elements. At the bottom of the plant is a rootstock that is grafted to a long central cane or stem. The long stem is then grafted onto a rose bush at the top of the stem. The cane at the centre (or "standard") is usually supported by a stake.

"Rose Standards" the more proper name for tree roses probably originated in Victorian-era Europe at a time when these kinds of techniques were often employed in the rose gardens of the nobles. In most circumstances, the central cane that the hybrid rose is grafted onto stands between 32 to 36 inches high. Sometimes marketed as "patio tree roses," miniature rose standards are often grafted onto canes that are shorter, usually about 24 inches in height.

As a result of the grafting, almost any kind of rose could be converted into a tree rose, including blooms that have colours, shapes and perfumes that are normally produced by other varieties. Climbing roses that are grafted onto a 6-foot trunk produces weeping tree roses that are sold commercially. Other varieties used to create tree roses include floribundas, miniatures, hybrid tea roses, and grandifloras, allowing you to choose from a large variety of colours to enhance your landscaping designs.

Rose tree gardens need extra care for the plants to insure survival over the winter. Since they are grafted, the union where the graft is on the plant is the most vulnerable part of the rose during cold temperatures. For this very reason, the plant will need some type of winter protection. Like other outdoor varieties, the tree rose needs to go into dormancy, as well.

During the winter, experts advise covering our rose bud unions to provide protection in "hard" freezes; mulch is usually the choice of experts. This method is almost impossible to do with a rose tree. In this instance, the gardener should build a cage of wire around the rose, and then fill it with leaves or mulch in the coldest times in winter. With some hybrid tree roses, it may be also prudent to use a couple of support stakes until the central cane grows sufficiently thick and strong to support the grafted rose's weight.

Lastly, remember that you should buy your tree rose from any good rose nursery. You will not be able to make a new tree rose for your tree rose garden by taking cuttings to propagate them like you can with the more traditional ones. Each one has to be created through the special grafting process.