Public rose garden   Listing last updated on 25 Apr 2024.

Farmers Branch, Texas
United States

http://www.farmersbranchtx.gov/index.aspx?NID=248
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The following is quoted from an October 2010 Dallas News online article found at:
http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/home-and-gardening/headlines/20101013-Farmers-Branch-test-garden-has-largest-6003.ece

The Farmers Branch trial garden was laid out to take advantage of a gentle north-to-south slope toward shady Rawhide Creek a stone's throw away. Rows of mulched beds were planted as on a terrace to make the most of rainwater.

The soil is North Texas' typical tough clay, but since it's in a creek drainage area, "there must have been some silting in the past," Smith says, which laid down looser soil.

A pre-emergent weed control was applied to the turf between beds, but not the beds themselves.

Each rosebush was allowed a space 8 by 10 feet. Lawn paths separate the beds, providing air circulation and full access to visitors, including volunteers who adopt plots and pull weeds.

As with all horticulture, planning the planting made a huge difference. In January 2008, Smith's crew tilled the beds about a foot deep, timing it just before a hard freeze, "which makes the soil more friable," she says. A drip irrigation system also was installed.

The beds get full sun all year, but moisture is conserved with a thick mulch layer of native hardwood chips donated by arborists. The trial garden has four specimens of each type of rose, in randomized plots. They're all being treated the same, says Smith. "And we only prune if they get greedy."
The Farmers Branch trial is on track to meet its low-water- use goal. In its first year, roses were irrigated about a dozen times; last year only half as many times, Smith says. This year, the plants' root zones have been watered three times, using less than 10 gallons per bush.

Not all the roses have survived, and some that are doing all right in Farmers Branch have failed in trial gardens in other locations.