Rose Drought Emergency!

[GardenGeisha]

The people who were supposed to be watering my roses didn't realize the water pressure was too low and the roses weren't getting water (Duh!), and it's been in the high 90s all week. This morning the roses looked nearly dead. Help! What can I do to help them revive? I watered them, but I don't know. Lots of brown and yellow leaves. I don't know when they last got watered. I didn't notice signs of drought stress yesterday, but I might have missed it. Worst affected are my two favorites, 'Wild Blue Yonder' and 'Scent fro Above', followed by another favorite, 'Mr. Lincoln.' All advice will be appreciated.

 

[journey11]

If they die back, go ahead and prune them. Keep watering them regularly and deeply. They should come back with new canes and foliage.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Thanks, Journey11. Is there a danger of watering too much? By deeply and regularly, how much and how often?

 

[journey11]

If you're not getting at least 1" of rain during each week, then once a week I would water them with a hose from the bottom and let it run until it puddles up. I usually then move onto the next one and after I finish the row, I go back over them once again until it puddles. If the soil is draining well, it should soak in within a few minutes. That's just my method anyway. I'm not sure how that comes out in gallons. It would depend on your soil, I think.

 

[catjac1975]

I would prune them way back, soak repeatedly, and pray. I am wondering if there is a nutrient of some sort that you could use. I would not use fertilizer. Epsom salts come to mine , but, I would not stimulate growth for a few weeks. No real knowledge here-just a gut feeling.

 

[catjac1975]

Let it puddle and drain a couple of times unless your soil is clay which it sounds like it is not.

 

[GardenGeisha]

People have advised me not to prune them way back, catjac. I live in Utah, Salt Lake City. It is desert. It was 103 F here the day I noticed the yellow and brown leaves. Temps in the upper 90s all next week, when I will be away on vacation. Folks say heavy pruning in this heat would burn and kill the roses for sure. I did let the water puddle around each rose as soon as I noticed the problem. Water goes through the soil here like a sieve. I did deadhead the spent roses and rose hips. Not sure whether that was the thing to do. It may encourage toomuch new growth. My thinking was it would remove the energy the roses expend to set seeds, helping stimulate the rose to use its energy for recovering from the stress, but I'm not sure I'm thinking right. It might have been better not to have done this, to encourage dormancy, instead, in the hot weather ahead-- mere survival without the need for the rose to do much of anything but exist? I just don't know.

 

[Smart Red]

It is sometimes hard to remember how different our growing conditions are. @catjac1975 is right about rose care in Mass. "People" are right about rose care in the summer desert of Utah. I would have been in the Catjac camp because water and high, dry temperatures are not a problem here.

Good luck with your roses!

 

[journey11]

I have poorly draining, heavy clay. So it won't take as much water for me as it would for you. It would help to mulch them heavily too, especially with your soil type. And I'd only prune off what has officially died.

You may be surprised how much abuse a rose can take. I've yet to kill one. Let us know how they turn out, ok.

 

[baymule]

@Jared77 posted pics of how he waters his trees with buckets of water with a hole drilled in it. He drills a hole with a 1/64th drill bit and lets the water slowly leak out. This might help while you are gone too.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/jared77s-gardening-journal.15157/page-5