Beef up your security with a rosy hedge
Did you know that thorny, shrub-like roses planted as hedges along walls or around properties with palisade or clear-view fencing can provide extra security?
If you are going to plant a hedge to soften or screen your home’s perimeter why not consider a flowering hedge for both beauty and security?
Roses probably don’t come to mind but there are tough, shrubby varieties like Panarosa roses that can be planted as dense hedges, and with enough thorns to discourage any unwanted visitors. The bonus is that they flower from October through to winter, with an abundance of pickable, often fragrant blooms. Let’s find out more from Ludwig’s Roses:
What’s to like:
Panarosa varieties are free flowering, vigorous and virtually maintenance free roses, growing between 2m to 3m high and as wide with flowers on every cane.
Because all these roses are big with lots of leaves, they also have a large root system. This makes them impervious to diseases like Black Spot.
They do need water but can be treated more like shrubs and trees that need regular watering, but not as often as the normal rose bush.
In summer trim if necessary using long handled hedge clippers. In winter they can be given a good trim but should not be cut back or the frame of the plant will be destroyed.
As the plant becomes denser the inside growth will naturally die (lack of light). The thorny dry wood only adds to the security as it is not easy to cut through that.
How to plant a Panarosa hedge
Space plants 1m – 2m apart so that the plants have space to grow but will also grow into each other. If grown against a wall, space them about 1 m from the wall.
Plant these roses as you would a tree, in huge holes with deeply prepared and composted soil. The hole should be twice the size of a normal rose hole. This allows the roots to develop and extend in search of food and water.
To establish them, water every day for one week and then reduce watering to once or twice a week, depending on the temperatures.
Once the roses are settled, cover the surface of the soil with a light layer of mulch, keeping it away from the stems of the roses.
One of a kind Panarosa
Artista Panarosa produces large double blooms that are a dazzling combination of deep carmine with contrasting yellow stripes and dots that change almost by the hour. It is a rugged, vigorous shrub, 2.5 metre high and over 3m wide.
Other security roses
‘Peggy Martin’ is a repeat flowering rambling rose that can be trained up a wall or fence and becomes impenetrable. After its first year of growth, it only needs minimal pruning or trimming.
Rosa bracteata Macartney is a monster rose that needs a lot of space and is best for large plots. It is a rambler that grows sideways to knee height and then on mounds up to 10 m high. It just needs to be sheared to keep it neat. The single white flowers are produced throughout summer. It remains evergreen through winter and is disease resistant.
Article and images supplied by Alice Coetzee.
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