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Roses have been one of the most popular garden flowers for centuries. Large-flowered specimens impress with their elegant appearance, fragrant roses exude a beguiling aroma and in autumn the bright rose hips of many species decorate the garden and serve as valuable food for the birds. Even if you want to create an easy-care gravel bed, you don't have to do without these garden beauties. They fit wonderfully into Mediterranean beds and bring the flair of southern gardens to our fields.
Roses are a beautiful element for the gravel bed
The conditions
The queen of flowers needs a sunny and airy spot. Therefore, the gravel bed should be bathed in sunlight all day long. It also tolerates neither too dense nor too light soil. So topsoil mixed with sand is ideal. Here the roots get enough air and there is no need to worry about waterlogging, which roses tolerate very poorly.
In addition, the bed should be of a certain size so that both the queen of flowers and the framework images and the additional plants are attractive. With their dark foliage, roses stand in beautiful contrast to light-colored types of gravel, which can make the bed particularly attractive.
companion plants
Aromatic, fragrant Mediterranean herbs and grasses with beautifully shaped leaves make rose blossoms look even more beautiful. This also applies to Mediterranean shrubs, whose growth habit fits perfectly with the effect of the gravel bed planted with roses.
| name of the plant | properties | |
|---|---|---|
| shrubs | cypress | Evergreen, various forms of cultivation, protects the roses from the wind |
| Emerald Thuya | evergreen, upright growing, lush green foliage | |
| boxwood | is very suitable for edging and topiary | |
| companion plants | lavender | wonderfully fragrant classic |
| rosemary | valuable kitchen herb | |
| sage | attractive light to blue-violet flowers | |
| thyme | aromatic fragrant subshrub | |
| oregano | probably the best-known herb in Mediterranean cuisine | |
| ornamental grasses | blue fescue | beautifully formed and colored foliage with a great ornamental effect |
| Switchgrass | pretty blooming rose companion for background |
The rose care
Roses are considered a bit tricky. However, care is not as difficult as is often claimed. Note a few basic things:
- Locations where the sun reaches about eight hours a day are ideal.
- Rose roots need space and can reach deep underground. If you are planning a gravel bed in which to cultivate the queen of flowers, dig it deep enough.
- Unlike many gravel bed plants, roses are hungry. Plants that are not adequately cared for flower sparsely, produce only stunted new shoots and are susceptible to fungal diseases. You should therefore also fertilize the gravel bed regularly.
- Roses need pruning. If you want a bed that requires little work, these flowering plants are not such a good choice.
tips
Resistant rose varieties are better suited for the gravel bed. They are less susceptible to the typical rose diseases powdery mildew, sooty mildew and rust. You can recognize healthy plants by their bright green foliage. Turn the leaves over once in a while, because this is where pests like to hide.