It really depends on where you live I guess. In the houston/galveston area we have a lot of clay. My roses have done wonderful in it.

When I put in my main bed, I did play with improving the soil. I bought a bunch of bags of Lady Bug rose magic.

http://www.ladybugbrand.com/products/Rose-Magic.asp

My roses are doing great for the last 2 years there. If you have the funds to use on it and you are really worried about your soil, go for it.

Most of my roses though that aren't in that bed were just planted in the clay soil and have done well. If clay soil is good enough to be considered some of the best farm land in Texas, I can't really knock it for growing my roses.

Love those rocks ! Of course it depends on the size of the rocks ... lol.

I garden in glacier debris/subsoil. The slope where my house is located was created by glacier debris ... rock and clay. The house pad was cut out of the slope ... subsoil. The soil on the house pad level where my primary rose garden is located, consists of clay and dense rocks that are mostly no larger than a large marble. This soil goes down far more than two feet and cannot be dug with a shovel.

I have found that the small rocks in the soil create wonderful drainage in clay soil. I have no standing water and the clay holds the moisture longer than sandy soil. I've actually added rocks to clay soil where I have had to backfill to create a more raised bed because in pure clay soil, I have lousy drainage. I stopped complaining about my rocky soil at that point.

The key to a good "planting hole" is good drainage. I perk tested each rose hole I dug to determine whether or not I had good drainage for the rose.

Fill your planting area with water and see how long it takes to drain. If it doesn't drain at least over night ... not "perfect" drainage, but good enough, you need to improve the drainage in your planting area before you go forward. You may end up building raised beds. I really don't know, but drainage issues always dictate the next step.

Smiles,
Lyn

I'm in Phoenix, AZ. I need to fill the hole with something and don't mind using some of the cleaner clay, but most was pretty dirty from construction debris. I'm going to the nursery tomorrow to by the 3 roses I want so I'll be asking them what they suggest to fill it with. I was thinking of getting some top soil and then mixing in some organic matter and clean clay.

Thanks for the responses.

I have adobe. No fun to dig holes in. I toss the dirt from the holes on my driveway and rake it to get the rocks and clods out. I then pour the rose planting mix on top and shovel the pile back and forth to get it mixed. A good workout.t