With their high ornamental value and their contribution to increasing biodiversity, roses are perfect for greening cities and a healthy living environment. They also thrive during hot and dry summers.
Many benefits
In urban areas, roses bring lots of benefits. With their varied colours, abundant blooms and flowering period from June until well into autumn, they offer a long-lasting and high ornamental value. Roses can withstand long periods of drought. Many roses have a lovely scent, making them even more attractive to passers-by. What’s more, rose flowers with open and semi-filled hearts act as insect magnets. The flowering period is often followed by rose hips, a food source for birds. Some cultivars, such as Rosa rugosa (Japanese wrinkle rose), have the benefit of salt tolerance. These flowers do well on verges or embankments. Roses can also capture particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ozone (O3).
Self-cleaning
Ground cover roses and shrub roses are particularly suitable for public spaces. New roses are selected for being self-cleaning: wilted flowers fall off of their own accord. In addition, they are hardy, healthy and compact, and offer good ground cover. They also thrive in roof and façade greenery and areas around trees. The lower varieties are suitable for flower boxes, planters and traffic islands, among other things. Upright rose bushes with large flowers (particularly Tea hybrids and Florabundas) are perfect for traditional rose beds.
Main concerns
- Roses do not demand much from the soil; it just needs be permeable to water.
- Most varieties prefer a sunny position with 3-4 hours of sun; the more sun the better.
- With the right planting distance, they will quickly cover the soil, giving weeds less chance. The average planting density is 4 to 5 bushes per m².
- Roses on their own root ball can be pruned mechanically every 2 to 3 years in March or April.
