area for climbing roses

Question

We planted climbing roses, but now they’re overtaken by grass. So we put Roundup on the grass and are putting a border around the roses. I want to put some compost in the areas between the roses, to help with the hard soil, then cover the whole area and roses with potting soil, then put weed barrier down, covered by cedar bark. Does that sound right?

Answer 1

It sounds like a good plan. I would be very careful with the Round Up though, a little drift of spray will cause problems with the climbing roses. For the grass and such that are closer to the bushes, try mixing some Round Up in a can and brush it on lightly with a paintbrush. There is a soils amendment out there called Clay Buster that works very well to help break up clayey soils, I know because I deal with it too!! Also I prefer either a shredded wood mulch (natural cedar or brown colored) or 3/4 to 1 1/2 inch gravel. The bark likes to harbor some of the bad guy insects and I have had worse problems with bad molds and funguses using the bark.