- Below, I let the authors themselves speak to the issue of roses
and the amount of sunlight required to grow them. I have quoted from a number
of books, the matter of roses and their requisite demands for sunlight. Suffice
it to say that roses, in order to reach their full potential of form, size,
vigor, quantity and quality of bloom MUST HAVE PLENTY OF SUN. The most common
recommedation is 5 to 6 hours of sun a day. That said, many gardeners have not
the blessing of unlimited garden and landscape space flooded with optimal
sunshine. What are we to do? In my gardening adventures, I try to reserve the
most sunny locations for roses... and these prime rose locations are quickly
filled. If the opportunity presents itself, I take my most used garden tool, my
chainsaw, and clear the boughs from the sky allowing more sunlight in, and
hence more room for roses! In my woodland setting, there are plenty of trees
left to shade the landscape. Fortunately, many of the trees are very tall and
slender black locust and wild cherry which do not form a dense canopy, but
rather allow a good bit of filtered sunlight in. And filtered sunlight for a
part of the day is what many of my roses get.
- It is difficult for the rose grower to make a good evaluation
of a rose's shade tolerance. Since a rose variety may be grown in only
one location in the garden, sun or part shade, the rose gardener often can not
compare the rose's performance in a more sunny or shaded situation. Perhaps the
more experienced rose gardener would be able to make a more informed comment
about any particular rose and it's penchant for sun or shade.
The
repeat blooming roses I grow that perform best in partial shade are:
'Ballerina'(hy.musk, Bentall, 1937), 'Knockout'(shrub, Radler, 1999), 'Darlow's Enigm'a (shrub of unknown origin), 'Cornelia'(hy.
musk, Pemberton, 1925), 'Gartendirecktor Otto Linne' (hy. musk x polyantha, Lambert, 1934), 'Ghislaine de
Feligonde'( hy. multiflora, Turbat, 1916).
- Growing roses under trees.......If the shade under your trees
is very dense, that is no filtered sunlight ever, I would not grow roses under
them. Roses must have some sun to grow and bloom. If some sunlight makes it
through, roses should grow there. The amount of bloom and their overall health
and vigor will depend upon how much sun they get. If the tree roots are many,
then you have additional problems for the roses. They will deplete the soil the
roses are planted in of moisture and nutrients. Even if there is sun, the roses
still will not do well competing with tree roots. Some trees develop very large
roots near the trunk that are very close to the surface of the ground or even
grow above the ground. Roses don't like to compete with tree roots, and will
usually give up. If this is the case, there is truly only one recourse if you
must have roses under the trees: grow the roses in large pots. Some may decide
to cover up the tree roots with soil of sufficient depth to grow the roses in.
This is not a good idea and will harm the tree. Those tree roots are near the
surface or above the ground for a reason: they need air, so to speak. If,
however, your tree does not put out large roots near or above the ground, and
there is sufficent sun, growing roses at least 18 to 24 inches from the trunk
may work just fine. I have a number of roses growing this way next to black
locust trees. Black locust, (Robinia pseudoacacia), roots tend to not rise to
the surface and the soil next to the tree trunk itself can be fairly deep. The
soil is still fairly dry, so the roses should be mulched well to preserve
moisture.
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