Do I have my rose bushes planted too close together?

Question

The Queen Elizabeth is large and producing many blooms. The Double Delight looks stunted with only a few blosoms. They are about 4 – 5 feet apart.

Answer 1

Hi Grann. No your rosebushes are not too close together at all. Perhaps Double Delight just needs a soils home build up. I would get a bag of good compost and work it into the soils around both rosebushes, just for good measure. Add a 1/2 cup of Alfalfa Meal and Kelp Meal to the soils too as you work things in. Water well. Then in about a week give Double Delight 1/2 cup of Epsom salts, sprinkled on the soils around the bush. Work it in lightly and water it in nicely too. I have done this many times with my roses and it really does give them some extra boost to get growing and blooming.