Almost everyone can agree that rose bushes add a certain charm to every garden, right? Right. However, not all can agree that they’re easy to establish. To help you grow your best roses, follow these three tips:

Lighting is Key

Roses prefer to be planted in an area that receives at least six hours of sunlight every day. Sunlight helps certain plants, like roses, to flower and produce healthy, green leaves. If your roses are planted in an area with too little sunlight, you may notice that the shrubs become very leggy, with little foliage and almost no blooms. Be sure to choose an area that you know receives at least six hours of sunlight every day, and your roses will perform beautifully.

Food for Thought

The rules for fertilizing roses are important. For newly-planted roses, too much fertilizer too soon can burn the immature roots. Instead, at planting, combine the soil with a compost mixture to add some—but not too many—nutrients to the soil. When the rose bush has produced its first blooms, then you can assume its roots are strong enough to withstand chemical fertilizer without burning. (Hint: Try Rose Tone!) For a frequent feeding schedule, use weaker-strength fertilizer more often.

Fungal Diseases

Roses are very susceptible to fungal diseases such as black spot and powdery mildew. While roses need an adequate amount of water to be properly established, these and other diseases can develop if the foliage is kept too wet. Applying a systemic fungicide drench in the spring can help protect the plant. You can also avoid them by watering the plant at the soil line as opposed to overhead watering, in which the foliage is most likely to remain wet.