Revive Rose Garden

I have grown veggie for many years, but it was just something I did. My passion was my roses. I babied them, kept them pruned, deadheaded, fertilized and treated for pest.
Then I discovered Permies, and my whole perspective changed. No more chemicals for anything. I started to get more and more into my veggie garden. I was so focused on everything veggie garden I greatly neglected my poor rose garden. Also my drip system tanked, I knew it was going to be a ton of hard work to fix it and didn't want to give it the time and effort. Unfortunately the roses have gotten almost no water except rain which is pretty much non-existent in the summer, for a couple of years. I'm lucky any of them survived. I definitely don't deserve them.
I have really missed spending time in my rose garden. I'm determined to bring it back to it's glory.  It's such an overwhelming task I have broken it into 4 tasks. #1 prune. #2 weed, and clean. #3 replace drip system.  #4 put wood chips down.
I finished phase one.  I was beating myself up for my neglect, and was stopped in my tracks by a gift. I found a birds nest with a rose inside.  It made me feel a little better. It doesn't negate my neglect, but at least there was a benefit.  I found two nests. I also found a few long blackberry vines. Some of you might be thinking oh no, my family in Washington State would, but we love blackberries, and I have a difficult time growing them. I thought the vine I have on the other side of the rose garden was not doing as well as it is. I also found a few that rooted in the soil. I will dig them up and plant them in a better place.
I'm not looking forward to #2, but I'm happy to have started.

I know nothing of roses except the climbing roses we planted many years ago here in western MN are still very robust. They tolerate our cold climate and have been very prolific the last 2 years with much above normal rainfall. Got them from Bachmans in MSP. They bloom for a long time and have had very little care except cutting out the dead material. Built a cedar trellis for them when starting out, still stands strong today. For flowers on this farm, it is survival of the fittest, high maintenance does not cut it.

Doug you have the right rose for your needs because Climbers don't need to be pruned like other roses.
Everyone always say how roses are so needy and hard. At least where I live I don't agree. Once a rose is established it's quite hardy. If they weren't I wouldn't have any roses left. I haven't fertilized for at least 3 years (only organic these days). I don't use anything else.  Pruning helps keep fungal disease down, and more  flowers, but again for the most part not a must.
I love my roses, and have missed walking through the roses garden enjoying the blooms, and amazing sent. For me it's worth the effort.

Done with phase 2. I have removed all the old drip lines.  My son is going to help remove the crepe myrtle. My rose garden was much smaller, and in the back corner was a crepe myrtle. I never really liked it. It was constantly covered with powdery mildew., and just not my cup of tea.  I removed it. I dug not only down, but around to remove as much of the roots as I could find.  I have been fighting it ever since.  When I tried to dig it up I'm not exaggerating when I say there's a root larger than my arm. I definitely need help.
Next we will remove the crepe myrtle, lay down new weed cough. I know everyone  at Permies hates it, and I'm trying to use it a lot less. In this area it's saved me so much work. I'm going to put down a second layer. Then I will lay down the drip line. Add all the drippers. Add a thick layer of wood chips, and call it good. Still a lot of work, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm finally done with phase 3. For me installing the drippers is the hardest part. My fingers, neck and knees are killing me, ( a reminder of how old, fat and out of shape I am) but it's done.
I have the wood chips. I hope my son will bring them close with the  bobcat. There's no access to dump them in the roses garden, but he can bring the pile close.

I'm so happy to say I'm done. It took me two days to put the wood chips in place. It didn't take that long, but my son didn't move the wood chips until dusk. I worked until I couldn't see anymore. The next day I worked, so pretty much the same scenario. It was the perfect time to do it because it rained not so long ago so the chips were not wet, but not dusty either. I'm not going to lie I didn't enjoy the process, but I'm thrilled it's done.

I put all my little decorations into the garden, and now I will wait for the spring to bring my lots of roses I can enjoy. One of my roses is an overachiever and blooming now.

Oh my goodness, congratulations on all that work! I love roses so much, I'm excited to see your garden in late Spring!

Are they all hybrid teas? Which is your favourite?

I also do chemical-free roses. They get fed with poop boosted straw from the chicken coop. I just planted 13 new bushes at the new place last year!

Thanks Rebecca, It was a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it. I have all different kinds of roses hybrid teas,  floribunda and even a climber.  My favorite is Black Magic a hybrid tea, it's a very dark velvet red. I wouldn't say red is my favorite color, but this is something special. Mostly I like variety.

You gotta love spring. Every time I walk through my rose garden, or even just look at it from some place in the yard aI get a big smile on my face. I love my roses, and I'm so glad I took the time to fix my neglect.  I can't wait to bring roses to my friends and family.

Your roses are beautiful, the scents must be amazing. Do you remember the names of any of them?

The colour of the purple one is stunning.

You can smell the roses just walking by, it's lovely.
I made a diagram in my garden book so I have the names of most of them.  Maybe someday I will make little markers with there names. I'm always full of fun ideas, but short on time.

There's a formal rose garden in our local park but sadly, they replanted it several years ago and replaced most of the roses with unscented ones.

The scent feom the original rose bushes was heavenly, the scent was so heady as we walked amongst the beds. Now I need to go up to each shrub and bury my nose into the flowers to catch a whiff😒

They still look spectacular though.

That's a proper transformation, well worth the effort. Nothing beats walking past roses and getting hit with the scent out of nowhere. Shame so many newer varieties have had it bred out of them.

Megan what a cute little dog.
I added the name of the roses to the pictures. I need to remake my rose diagram, because I lost roses due to my neglect. I didn't do this in the very beginning. At some point I realized some of the tags were no longer attached to the roses. That's when I made my diagram. It's very useful because I would never be able to remember all the names. Someday I hope to make decorative name markers, but for now this works.

I will have to find an Ebb Tide, they are sold in NZ and love that it’s a scented David Austin rose.

The description of the scent alone is enough to make me want it, let alone the glorious colour.

Beau is the sweetest, most affectionate little scoundrel. He just turned 4.

I'm really enjoying my rose garden. I'm so glad I finally moved it to the top of the to do list. A list that's miles long will never be finished, and changes daily.
I know some people consider roses to much trouble, but I enjoy dead heading them, and just being surrounded by the beauty, and lovely sent.

Your renovation and reinvigoration of your rose garden is inspirational. I have a few poor performing roses that need some extra love. I think I might move them up on my endless project list!

Thanks for sharing pictures of the 'fruits' of your labor with us.