Getting the Bush Ready

If you plant bareroot bushes soon after you get them home from a reliable nursery or shortly after you receive them from a shipper, they will be in good condition.  If planting has been delayed because of bad weather, bushes may have dried out.  Moisture can be replenished if you submerge the bushes in water, covering all roots.  Depending on how dried out the bushes have become, they can be soaked for up to twenty-four hours.  After this treatment, the dried parts will plump and fill out nicely.

Some rosarians soak their rosebushes for two hours before they plant them no matter how quickly they arrived from the supplier.  "Who knows how long ago they were dug up and left in cold storage?"  they ask.  These same clever gardeners suggest that you add some household bleach to your soaking tub, thereby cleaning up whatever unwanted bacteria might be hanging around.  They'll also mention that a shot of all-purposes liquid fertilizer or Vitamin B-I wouldn't hurt either.

Next, all broken stems and roots must have their damaged sections cut out.  Using sharp shears, make a clean cut into healthy growth a quarter inch from the break.  Many people cut off one-quarter inch of all root tips, claiming that this will help to stimulate new growth.  I think it makes sense.  Whether or not you clip everything, at least cut out damaged areas--they are a haven for disease.  If canes are damaged, they too must be cut.  Take off as little as possible at this time.  Wait until after new growth appears to cut off anything else.