Question about lasagna gardening with roses

[elizabeth24]

I have done my version of lasagna gardening in a large garden just to get rid of weeds and it has worked for the most part. No, I will not get rid of every weed.

This year, I am getting rid of the grass that has grown around the roses in the garden, which since the garden has grass on both ends, ours and our neighbors, it will be tricky as the rhizomes for grass or weeds grow underground and sprout elsewhere in the garden. I plan on watering the soil I have really well, then wetting newspaper and putting in down, then adding lots of mulch, and wetting it with the garden hose as well, keeping the mulch away from the shank or stem of the roses. Does this sound right to you? My only concern is that since I cannot mulch the roses by the stem, that is probably where the weeds will come up. Any ideas and/or input is appreaciated. Thank you so much.

elizabeth24

[Elena Zimmerman]

How old are your roses? Depending on their age, it could be better to replace or rejuvenate them, as their life-span is 6-20 + years depending on the variety and they do decline (or at least the book I am reading said so.) The only way I know of getting rid of grass that intergrows with a garden plant is to dig the plant up and clean up the rhisomes.

With lasagna beds, I find that newspaper or landscaper fabric solution is just not powerful enough against the prairie grass. I turn soil over, spray with grass killer, allow it to start dying for a week or so, and then put down the barrier, and then - mulch. Later on I use vinegar to kill whatever grass grows through.

I am all for organic gardening, but large and tough expansies of grass in my experience ain't afraid of vinegar.... One really cool solution - if I were handy or had money for it - is to dig out a 2 foot trench around teh property and put the nice, solid wall there to prevent the grass and other pests from getting into the garden! My neigbour has it in her yard (she has wood beams), she is one lucky lady!

[elizabeth24]

Hi there,

Thanks for the info. I am in Ontario Canada, not in the prairies, so am just dealing with regular grass, but yes, it does grow through the rhisomes.

How do I rejuvenate the roses? Digging them out is out of the question for me. Thanks so much,

elizabeth24

[Elena Zimmerman]

I am sure if I lived in Ontario, I'd called it tough Ontario grass

As for rejuvenation, I think it is better if you take a look at one of the rose books from a local library, as I am not really a rosarian, just read a couple of books when I purchased (stupidly) two roses (Canadian Tire be damned with their cheap prices!) and can totally mess things up. In the nutshell, the guy drilled holes and filled it with compost, perlite etc to bring nutrient to the older bushes. The particular book I was reading was:

Roses : a gardener's guide for the plains and prairies / Shewchuk, G. W.