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Do Roses like high PH soil? What varieties should I use?

I have some flower beds that I put in with alot of Humas and Topsoil about 6 inches deep. Below that is loose dirt from a fire pit. I am going to test the soils PH but was wondering if the roses would be effected by the higher PH soil 7-10 uniches below the top of the bed. The new bed is in an area that get tons of sun. If roses will do well here, what varieties should I use?

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

I'm not a rose expert, but since no one else has responded, I thought I'd give it a try. In general, roses ideally like a range of 5.5 -7, that is mildly acid to neutral. However a number of people say their roses do fine in more alkaline soil and I did find this:

"If you live in the West or Southwest, or even parts of the Southeast such as central Texas, you may find that your soil is distinctly alkaline and that its pH is higher than 7.0. One way to cope with this is to plant China roses and tea roses that have been grown on their own roots. These two classes of roses are more tolerant of alkalinity than most other kinds of roses, and they thrive in soils whose pH lies in the range of 7.5-8.0. If you are planting grafted roses into alkaline soils, make sure that they have been grafted onto the rootstock known as 'Dr. Huey', since this, too, is alkaline tolerant." (sorry, I found this by doing a Roses + high PH soil search, but now I lost the citation for it)

hope this helps

cynthia_h
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Somehow I missed this post. Sorry.

Your county agricultural extension office should provide free or low-cost soil tests so that you know exactly what you're dealing with. Once you have the results back, talk to a local nursery with experienced gardening staff and ask for their recommendations, both as to correcting (if needed) the pH of the soil *and* for rose varieties that will thrive for you rather than just survive.

Happy gardening!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9



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