Knock out roses

[MewGardener]

(All the plants pictured came with the house) I bought 4 knockout roses yesterday and plan to plant them where those 4 gold/ yellow plants are ( I am moving those gold plants to the back yard). I also bought 3 white Azaleas to plant near the knockout roses. So I have those 4 green shrubs, I’m not sure what they are, and I think I will move them and plant the 3 white azaleas in their place. Or maybe plant the azaleas in between the green plants and have the roses in front of them. Will this work? Any suggestions?

 

[oneeye]

Knock out roses and Azaleas require two different pH when it comes to soils. The photo below are two knockouts planted in 7.8 pH soil. which is heavy alkaline clay. Most other roses won't last in that soil range, but knockouts will. Azaleas on the other hand, require 4.5 to 6 pH which is an acidic soil.

 

[oneeye]

That's why I always recommend sending a soil sample to the soil lab to have tested once. It only costs about 25 bucks the price of a Azalea or a Knockout. When the soil is not tested, its a guessing game and one way or the other you will lose one ot the two depending on what your pH is.

To plant Azaleas you will have to change the soil to have successful flowering. The way I did it, I remove most of the soil where the Azalea will be planted and replace the soil with a peat moss and ground pine bark mix. One part peat with one part pine bark and mix a handful of Osmocote plus fertilizer to the mix. With this mix you can plant your Azaleas and they will be successful every time no matter what the pH was in the old spot. Remember Azaleas likes filtered light or partial shade. Good luck

 

[MewGardener]

Knock out roses and Azaleas require two different pH when it comes to soils. The photo below are two knockouts planted in 7.8 pH soil. which is heavy alkaline clay. Most other roses won't last in that soil range, but knockouts will. Azaleas on the other hand, require 4.5 to 6 pH which is an acidic soil.

I live in NC near the coast. The soil is sandy. The ladies at Lowe’s garden center said the roses and Azaleas would grow if I resoiled. Do you think putting soil down will work?

 

[oneeye]

If you have sandy loam, you may can get by with your pH. The knockouts like 6 to 6.5 and azaleas like 4.5 to 6 pH so if you have a 6 pH, both the plants would do well. If you get a lot of rainfall annually every year your soil may be acidic. The most important thing to remember is that acidic sandy loam needs a lot of water in the first year and in the dry season. Knockouts drink a lot of water the first year or two and if you don't watch them closely and keep them watered, they will just stop growing.

Lowe’s garden center sales Azaleas in my area too but the pH is not suited for them, and if you plant one here it will always die unless you change soils. Do yourself a favor and get your soil tested at the local university every 5 years or so, you will be glad you did.

 

[oneeye]

Your on the right track and I think in a year or two your place will look very beautiful. Keep us posted.