Double knock-out roses

[Don Perry]

Last year I purchased these roses and had a beautiful result! Roses all summer long! But I made a horrible mistake! My dog, Bella, likes to dig and I just couldn't break her of that. I put down some "Dog & Cat Repellent", and it seems it is mainly cayenne pepper ground into a powder and suspended in some carrier. Five rose bushes died before I could even try to get the situation under control.
Now it is time to replant and I'm at a loss for what to do about the dog repellent. Am I going to have to excavate the whole bed or do you think I can till it under? I plan on laying down a piece of hog fence and lay a landscape timber on top of that. Then lay about 2" of fresh Dyno Dirt on top of that, Then red mulch.
The dog has never ceased digging in that rose bed. If I could teach her to excavate in my vegetable garden, perhaps I wouldn't need to till it this year. But then I'd have to find a way to keep her out of the garden too.

 

[Logan]

That's a shame about your roses it's heartbreaking when that happens.
We have dogs and they don't go into the garden because of digging and because they're golden retrievers anything that's easy to pick up they will. They go for 4 walks a day and in the evening they go around the back of the house.

 

[Don Perry]

That's a shame about your roses it's heartbreaking when that happens.
We have dogs and they don't go into the garden because of digging and because they're golden retrievers anything that's easy to pick up they will. They go for 4 walks a day and in the evening they go around the back of the house.

I have owned three AKC Labs, two black , one yellow. Wonderful dogs. Bella is a mixed breed that i had to rescue. She is my furbaby. Love her to death , but she roams and digs like a little back hoe.
Any thoughts on the pepper in the soil?

 

[Logan]

The pepper in the soil will have washed away.

 

[Don Perry]

I'll talk to the garden center at Lowe's and see when the y plan on getting some in. I need to get them in the ground NOW! WE had big storms last night. BIG wind and lots of rain. I live on top of a hill, but my garden is just a big mud hole. Glad I didn't have anything planted out there.
I found out that the double knock out roses are called that because the rose opens with petals that open, but some stay closed until later, giving a double life span to the rose.

 

[Don Perry]

I bought 3 double knock out roses and there were these three that were half priced, Because of damage. I went ahead and bought them also. What can I do to give those damaged ones their best chance. They had no leaves, but the stems still seemed alive. One had a few leaves that were brown at the edges. Soil was very dry!

 

[Sheal]

Don were there roses in that bed before you planted those that died? You may or may not know there is a phenomenon that surrounds roses being planted in the same place as previous roses. For some reason the replacements die and botanists are still trying to understand the reason why. Some gardeners have had success planting in the same place after completely changing the soil.

As Logan has suggested the pepper will have filtered down through the soil so shouldn't be a problem. When you plant the new roses give the hole a good soaking, mix some granular fertiliser with the soil you use for back filling and then water them in. Trim the stems just above an outward facing leaf bud to tidy them up and prune out any that are not healthy. Remove the damaged leaves. Roses are hungry and thirsty plants so fertilising at least twice during the growing/flowering season is best and water well during dry spells.

As long as your dog isn't disturbing the roots of the roses when she digs they will survive.

 

[Don Perry]

I dug deep and large holes, tossed a hand-full of 13-13-13 in the bottom, packed potting soil around and in the bottom after setting the plants in the hole. I covered everything with native soil and two inches of red mulch. I watered that entire bed (A lot!)
One of the discounted ones seems to have perked up some . Thanks for the heads up and advise.
I almost forgot.! I added the bull panel to the bed with cut-outs for the roses as a deterrent to digging.

 

[Sheal]

tossed a hand-full of 13-13-13 in the bottom, packed potting soil around and in the bottom after setting the plants in the hole.

All that you've done sounds well enough but did you plant the roses directly on top of the fertiliser? If that's so then it could be the reason you lost them as the fertiliser may have burnt the roots. Granular fertiliser should always be mixed into the soil for back filling with all plants.

 

[Don Perry]

All that you've done sounds well enough but did you plant the roses directly on top of the fertiliser? If that's so then it could be the reason you lost them as the fertiliser may have burnt the roots. Granular fertiliser should always be mixed into the soil for back filling with all plants.

Thanks for the reply . I let a little potting mix into the hole but not very much. The roses that I lost were planted two seasons ago. I'm pretty sure the dog and cat repellent is what killed them . Two roses that I planted each side of my porch gate survived and are doing beautifully. I didn't put the repellent on them.

 

[Sheal]

It does sound as if it could have been the repellent that was an issue. If it's been some while since you put that down then I don't see why you can't try again in the area as it would have been washed through the soil, taking into account what I said previously about the rose phenomenom. Good luck and please keep us posted on the new roses.

 

[Don Perry]

The roses are there. I added the bull panel and covered with 2" of composted soil. Then I spread 3" of red mulch on top of that. Its been raining since Sunday afternoon off and on. I hope they don't get drowned out. We've had 4" Since Sunday.

 

[big rockpile]

It is hard for me to remember over couple minutes but I believe yesterday Peppermint Oil repelled Dogs.

From what I was reading it is good good good for a mix for Bugs even.

My wife one time thought she would stop my Dog getting eggs so she injected one with Hot Sauce.

Well this old Coon A likes his Hot Sauce and shared with his Dog. He liked the extra she was giving him. LOL

big rockpile

 

[Don Perry]

I'm using Critter Ridder away from my garden and roses. I have a mole infestation and the dog digs to try to catch the mole. If I get rid of the moles maybe i can get rid of the digging problem? At least I might get rid of the moles.

 

[DirtMechanic]

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Hardware cloth comes in handier sizes than cattle panel. Remember to repeat how much you love gardening if you try to remove that panel years from now. I use a 48 inch long bolt cutter on mine sometimes.

Some critters love compost. Maybe pine bark mulch instead?