Sometimes rose trees are difficult to grow because of the extra care that they need. In other ways, they are very similar to ordinary rose bushes, albeit taller and less common in the average garden. Staking, mulching, and applying anti-fungal sprays are often essential methods of caring for rose trees. The thickness of the stake and amount of mulch varies depending on the windiness and average winter temperature, respectively. In addition, pruning dead roses encourages new growth faster than letting the flowers sit and eventually fall off on their own.
Rose trees are top heavy and therefore should usually be staked for extra support. This is especially true in windy areas because strong wind can bend and eventually break rose tree canes. To stake a tree, the gardener needs a wooden or plastic stake of appropriate height, garden twine, and a hammer. The stake is positioned next to the rose tree cane then gently hammered into the ground and fastened to the tree with garden twine. It may also be necessary to loosely tie stray branches to the stake to prevent them from snapping in strong wind.
For cold winter months, a rose tree might need to be surrounded by mulch. Rose bushes are normally protected by placing mulch on the ground around the base, but this method cannot fully protect the tree variety. Instead, gardeners loosely wrap chicken or mesh wire around the cane and hold it together with garden twine. Once the circle of wire is secure, it can be packed with mulch to protect the vast majority of the cane. It is generally recommended to use a packaged mulch rather than a loose variety in order to avoid introducing harmful insects to the rose tree.
While rose trees differ from bushes in their support and protection needs, they are about the same when it comes to producing pest- and disease-free flowers. The trees need regular maintenance with insect and fungal rose sprays. Normally, these sprays must be reapplied after every rain because they get washed off. Without rose sprays, rose trees can become spotted with block dots, infested with bugs, or die because of more severe ailments.
Depending on the variety of rose tree, the plant might need regular deadheading. Deadheading is basically pruning away dead blossoms to encourage the tree to grow new ones. Some species of rose trees do not need deadheading and instead quickly drop dead roses and replace them on their own. Still, it is usually possible to speed up the process by deadheading whenever the tree has a noticeable amount of dead blossoms.
