Roses have traditionally been considered the “Queen of the Garden”. Despite the vast range of flowering plants available to the gardener, the rose at its best, is still unmatched for flower beauty and sometimes for delicious fragrance as well. Yet roses have been falling out of favor over the past decade or so, especially in dry climates, largely because of their relatively high consumption of water.

The average cultivated variety for example requires about 4-5 liters for every square meter a day in a Mediterranean summer, compared to some flowering shrubs like Plumbago or Grevillea that perform perfectly well on a quarter or less, of that rate. However used wisely, roses can be incorporated into the garden within the confines of a low water-use budget. Here then are some water conserving methods of growing roses.

*Keep the roses bushes away from plants that need modest quantities of water. Group them instead with other thirsty species, and irrigate them on a separate regime. Roses perform poorly in any case when competing with the roots of trees and other shrubs.

*Obviously, it makes sense to limit their numbers, and you do not need a huge number of specimens to create a wonderful effect. A small group of five scarlet red floribundas by a whitewashed wall for instance, may be all you need, or you could plant one or two large climbers like “Golden Showers” and the deep crimson “Don Juan”.

Another way of covering a relatively large space with one specimen is to plant a large variety such as “Chrysler Imperial” on a wall, and to train the juvenile branches to grow horizontally on the wall. This method is known as the espalier technique and in addition to the pleasing architectural effect created, is a way of greatly increasing the quantity of flowers that the plant produces. All this on the water use of just one plant!

*Although less spectacular as flowering shrubs, species or shrub roses, such as Rosa rugosa can be planted as part of the shrubbery. As a rule, their water needs are similar to the modest consumers.

*Drip irrigation is far better than overhead sprinklers for watering the rose bushes, for the amount of water can be accurately calculated and then applied with virtually no waste from wind or run-off. Furthermore, fungal infections such as powdery mildew are reduced, although it may be necessary to wash down the foliage a few times through the summer.

*Spreading an organic mulch around the roses goes hand in hand with drip irrigation as a way of saving water. Mulching reduces the temperature of the top soil, allowing for more efficient water and nutrient uptake, while water is wasted by overhead sprinkling, as a certain percentage is absorbed by the mulch before it reaches the soil.

Feeding by means of organic composts improves both the water retention properties of the soil, and its air percentage at the same time. Although cultivated roses are heavy feeders, ample quantities of compost, applied in the spring and the autumn, should be sufficient inmost cases.