Moon's Graden

I just wondered if you can grow roses in a hedge.  Or are there specific
varieties that grow this way.  I'd like to plant a hedge between our parking
space and lawn, and I thought roses would be a nice idea.  Or would it be
better to train climbing roses along a low fence?

--

Carrie Jo Fattig

Carrie..
Many roses, the Simplicity line by Jackson & Perkins in particular, are promoted
as "living fences," hedge roses, etc. The primary characteristics of these roses
(supposedly) are ease of maintenance, constant bloom, and dense growth. Many
roses classified as shrubs might also fit the bill, ie. the "Meilland" series,
depending on how high and wide you want the hedge. I grow a Red Simplicity hedge
of 13 plants in Southern California - they grow like weeds and are in bloom 10
months of the year, 12 months if I don't prune. Others on this newsgroup in
colder climes have been much less enthusiastic about the Simplicity roses,
however. As for recommending hedge roses over climbers, or vise-versa, this is
strictly a matter of opinion. I would say, however, that training climbers along
and through a fence requires interaction on your part - something the hedge
roses require less of.

Dave Amorde

Patrick Burke
Project Services Coordinator
Biological Sciences Division Information Services
The University of Chicago

: Sure, lots of roses would be great for hedges. [...]

***In the appropriate climate, Teas, Noisettes, and Chinas--certain
robust, bushy cultivars of each--would make magnificent medium-sized
hedges. A hedge of `Mme. Berkeley' or `Mrs. B.R. Cant'?--holy cow, it
would be a knockout!

Best Wishes,

--BCD.
Web site:   http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor
Visit Vibert:    http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor/vibert.html
Rifle the Grab-Bag:    http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor/essay.html

"The supreme trick of mass insanity is that it persuades you that the only
abnormal person is the one who refuses to join in the madness of others,
the one who tries vainly to resist.  We will never understand
totalitarianism if we do not understand that people rarely have the
strength to be uncommon."  --Eugene Ionesco.

        Hi.  I'm trying to grow a rose hedge too - with hybrid musks.
I've used Felicia, Penelope, Cornelia, Buff Beauty and Prosperity. All
have soft colours and,are about the same height.
         BUT -- I recommend that you first put up a support of some
sort -[ even just a wire fence that wont be seen later] . Then you can
train branches to fill in gaps - and you will get gaps, especially at
the bottom. Also if you live in a windy place youll be pleased you
had.[I live in the roaring 40's, and the gales knock my roses around
badly].
        Whether you choose rugosas or musks or whatever, you have to
prune hard the first 2 winters, to make them bushy.  And do plant them
close enough - half what is normally recommended as a planting
distance. -  So they'll need more fertilizer than usual.
        -  lots of luck  - Carol

Carie,

You might want to consider a mixture of bushes, if you are worried anout
getting tired of only ONE rose. I planted a 50 foot hedge last fall, in an
S shape, to go along both the driveway and the street, on a slight slope. I
planted 13 bushes, and ordered them by size, the tallest one at the bottom
of the sope. I also chose them so that the colors match, and I put repeat
bloomers inbetween, and  the most fragrant ones closer to the windows.
It is a mixture of Albas, Gallicas, Portland, and a Bourbon.

Right now, the roses are still mounded (zone 5 here, a little snow cover
still today), and I will see the results  this summer, and in the next
years. Maybe it will turn out as a complete mess, with some plants
overpowering the others, but it still will be varied. I am very mush loking
forwar d to it. It won't be boring, for sure!

Just an idea...     Lisa in MA

Dear Mr. Burke,

Do have any recommendations for keeping deer at bay? I live in a rural area
that is very wooded. The deer meander down to my property in the evening or
very early morning. One thought I had was to install a motion detector light
near areas where I grow roses. Hopefully the light might cause them to  take
flight.

Any thoughts?

Ned in Albany, NY

Repellents don't work over time. Evidently some will work for a while, but
the deer eventually figure things out and come back.

I'm trying an electric fence right now, but I put it in kind of late last
season, so it won't truly be tested until May or June or so. It seems to
be working so far, but I'll let everyone know how it does once the foliage
comes back.

What really irritates me is the stupid deer don't TOUCH the r. multiflora
which spread wild along the sides of our roads, but they will go out of
their way to dance among the cultivars in my garden.

Patrick Burke
Project Services Coordinator
Biological Sciences Division Information Services
The University of Chicago

Carrie Jo Fattig

:       Whether you choose rugosas or musks or whatever, you have to
: prune hard the first 2 winters, to make them bushy.  And do plant them
: close enough - half what is normally recommended as a planting
: distance. -  So they'll need more fertilizer than usual.

Apparently Rugosas have the added advantage of being possum proof, the are
many places here where the Australian possum (a noxious animal in this
country) play havoc with roses, so if I ever have a rose hedge it'll be
rugosas and their thorniest progeny that I shall use.

Noeline.

Carrie Jo Fattig

You'll need a hardy variety, of course.   The two hedges that we've been
impressed with most recently used hardy shrubs.  Whether this was
coincidence  I don't know.  We saw both of these at (different) public rose
gardens:

A hedge of 'Carefree Beauty' (Shrub Rose) was very nice flanking an
entrance; so nice, in fact, it inspired us to start ripping out the old
honeysuckle and start planting one ourselves.

A hedge of 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup'  (Rugosa) was bordering a parking lot and a
lawn (hm..m..m, sounds like what you want).

According to the staff at both these places, the only regular care for
either hedge was regular watering.  Other things (like deadheading,
t***, etc) were done when they could get to it.   Neither hedge was
sprayed.

However, neither Garden was in a location as cold as yours.  You might want
to check on hardiness before you plant anything.

--
Nick - NJ - Zone 7a

ANTI-SPAM: Please remove  '*' from email address
"Everything should be made as simple as possible,  but not simpler"
- Albert Einstein

If you find a weather station,
get in touch with the meteorologist (may not be there full time, they may
just come to collect the data then go off to the next one)
and ask them what, on the average, is the lowest temp that station gets in
the winter. Not the coldest it's ever been, or the coldest it was last
year, but average, the longer the period the better. Then go to a zone
map, or re-post here with the info.

Or, you could just pick the lowest of the zones around you and be safe, or
just protect your roses over the winter. Paula or John can tell you lots
about that. Lots o' options.

72 + in Chicago. Back to the El Nino weather pattern, it's soaking in LA.
We're warmer than SoCal.  If only it would stay.

Patrick Burke
Project Services Coordinator
Biological Sciences Division Information Services
The University of Chicago

 http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/climsmid.html

There are 152 reporting stations in Idaho. I didn't see Wendell, but maybe
one of them is quite close.  There is a nice map there with all the
stations located by number.

We have fluctuating weather from winter to winter here.  For areas where I
want roses to be a landscape feature, I stick with varieties that can stand
the worst weather we're likely to have.
--
Lynn Barton
No. Illinois, Zone 4b