Landscape Rose Planting Ideas

Whether they’re planted as hedges, in formal rooms or mixed borders, landscape roses add elegance to your garden. Choose varieties that suit your climate, soil type and growing conditions.

Seasoned rose gardeners know hybrid teas with their large sprays of flowers, grandifloras with multiple blooms and floribundas that can withstand cold weather. But new easy-to-grow types such as Oso Easy Paprika rose fit into gardens large and small.

Landscape Shrubs

With large flowers and lush foliage, shrub roses add a tropical look to the landscape. They come in a wide variety of sizes and colors to suit any garden. Plant them in beds or borders for color and texture, in front of a home to soften the façade, along walkways as an inviting entrance or even in containers for a porch garden.

Shrub roses like ‘Ballerina’ combine classic musk roses with contemporary looks, producing single blooms of a delicate pastel combination of pink and white on long stems from late spring through fall. Small rose hips follow in fall, brightening bare stems through the winter and attracting birds. Grows 3 to 6 feet tall and wide. Zones 4-10.

A hybrid musk rose that blends old-fashioned charm with easy care. The oversized single to semi-double blooms appear in waves throughout the growing season on disease-resistant plants that tolerate heat and cold. Plant in a mixed border for color and fragrance, along a sidewalk or driveway to soften the appearance of concrete or stone, or mass a groundcover variety like ‘Florence’ or ‘Flower Carpet’ along a slope or bank for erosion control. Available in shades of pink, coral, red, orange, yellow and white.

Choose a site away from northwest winter winds and in full sun where the roses can get adequate air flow around their bases to help prevent disease. Dig a hole slightly larger and deeper than the container, adding in a layer of compost such as Gertens Green Loon compost (no manure) or peat moss for improved soil conditions.

Ground Cover Shrubs

Ground cover roses make an easy, colorful addition to gardens or planters. These low-growing plants form attractive mounds of color that cover bare soil quickly, making them ideal for filling in gaps at the front of borders or covering tricky spots where shrubs may be difficult to plant. Many are also evergreen for year-round interest.

Like all roses, ground cover varieties thrive in well-draining soil that’s rich in organic material. Add compost or other organic matter to planting beds and holes, and amend with a slow-release fertilizer formulated for roses (follow product instructions). Mulching is also key to improving the quality of your soil and reducing weeding.

Sunlight is another key ingredient for healthy, vibrant ground cover roses. Morning sun warms plants gently and reduces the risk of diseases that thrive in cooler, damp conditions. The more full sun your roses receive, the better their blooming will be. Partial shade is acceptable for some varieties, such as Albas and hybrid musks, although the blooms will likely fade more quickly in these conditions.

As with all landscape roses, you’ll need to manage disease problems, such as black spot and powdery mildew, and deal with common garden pests, such as deer. Try deer repellant sprays or granules to keep these hungry herbivores away from your plants. And if your garden is located near a wooded area, consider adding a few ground cover roses to the mix to help control erosion on slopes or banks.

Wild Roses

Wild roses are incredibly adaptable and can thrive in a range of climate conditions. Their ability to withstand challenging conditions makes them an excellent choice for many gardeners. In addition to their cold hardiness, wild roses have a reputation for drought resistance. The flowering patterns of some wild roses vary based on local weather conditions, as well. For example, in areas with hot summers, blooming may occur later in the season to avoid scorching temperatures.

These characteristics make wild roses well suited to beach plantings, pollinator gardens, meadows, and grottoes. They can also be used as low hedges or in mixed borders with other landscape plants such as perennials, trees, shrubs and invasive groundcovers like mint and pachyspermum. Their long lifespans mean that these plants provide a continuous supply of flowers and hips for wildlife throughout the year.

To ensure optimum performance, wild roses need full sun and well-draining soil. Regular watering is important to promote healthy growth and prevent foliar disease, but avoid overhead irrigation and provide good air circulation to reduce the likelihood of fungal problems. A layer of mulch helps retain soil moisture and regulates temperature, keeping the roots cool in summer and warm in winter. In addition, mulch helps suppress weeds and provides nutrients to the soil.

Mixed Borders

Mixing shrubs, perennials and annuals with roses creates a landscape planting that provides interest throughout the seasons. Planting in a mixed border offers great design flexibility – you can make the bed as formal or casual as you like. Look through gardening books, magazines and the internet for inspiration and visit local gardens to get a feel for the style that appeals to you.

Shrub roses add height to a mixed garden and are ideally placed near the back of the planting where they can provide a backdrop for lower-growing flowers and groundcover plants. They also work well in front of foundation plantings or as a hedge. Depending on the variety, many roses require more frequent pruning than other types of landscape shrubs.

When planning a mixed rose garden, choose perennials with different size, form and flower color to add contrast and visual interest. Good companions for roses include allium, lavender, echinacea, yarrow and salvia. Climbers such as clematis add a vertical element to the planting.

If you have a lot of space, you can include small trees or ornamental grasses in your mixed rose garden. These will bring added height and structure to the planting and can help block out unwanted views. Add color in late spring by including blooming bulbs such as tulips, daffodils and crocus. Perennials such as black-eyed Susan, chrysanthemums and asters provide autumn color. Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and helleborus add winter interest.