Dying rosebush. How do I take care of it?

Question

Hey,
we moved into this apartment (in oklahoma)at the beginning of last year and it has these two rosebushes planted out front. The silly things are as tall as I am and seem to be slowly dying.
I don't know what sort of rosebushes they are or what's wrong with them, in fact, I don't know the first thing about plants. I would like to keep them well though, because they are very pretty.
The stems are turning from green to this yuckie yellowish brown color, and a lot of it is dead. Last summer I cut out a lot of it and did so again just now. I tried to get rid of most of the dead parts but can't get them all.
Does it have a disease, or do I just need to take care of it somehow. I have no idea what the former owners did or didn't do with it.
How do I take care of it?
Please help.

... that sounds good, but exactly how much/often should I water them???
I'm telling you, I know nothing... so thanks a lot for the help.

Answer 1

Are you watering it? Are you overwatering it? Those are the two big things of plant care!

There are rose foods you can give them, too, but roses really seem to like calcium, so you might try giving them a drink of 1 part milk to 3 parts water. You could also mulch them with newspaper, then put pretty seashells on top of the newspaper. Whenever it rains (or you water them), it'll carry a little bit of seashell calcium down to them.

They also need lots of air, so if there are other weeds around them, get rid of them.

Believe it or not, a good rose is actually really easy to take care of. As long as they have sun, lots of air, and the right amount of water, they seem to do fine.

OH -- has your lawn been sprayed with herbicide or other chemicals lately? That might be part of the problem, too.

Answer 2

They make an excellent organic soil builder called Bumper Crop made by Master Nursery. You may want to add some to the bush to fertilize it. Feed the rose bush monthly with Rose-tone from beginning of season to middle of September by sprinkling 3 cups of Rose-tone around plant where drip line is. Just like sprinkling salt and pepper on food. Water the bush after adding the Rose-tone and keep watering it to nurse it back to health. You've cut it back already, which was a good thing to do. I would also mulch the plant to retain it's moisture. Also, you may want to use Miracle Gro on the bush. I use it throughout the season and my plants thrive on it. Ask your local nursery about it and ask them when you should start and stop using the Miracle-Gro (depends a lot on what zone you are in). The bumper crop that I mentioned before is great to mix with your soil before planting flowers and shrubs. Good luck!

Answer 3

Just trim them back. They'll grow back. You can ask the nursery people at Home Depot/Lowes, etc., for what kind of fertilizer to use. I think you can use chicken manure.