Homemade Natural Fertilizer for Roses

The rose bush, often called the "Queen of the Garden," is a hardy perennial in the botanical plant family Roseaece, member of the genus Rosa. The rose is the national flower of the United States. More than 15,000 different species and hybrids of roses are grown in urban landscapes, cottage gardens and commercial cultivation around the world. If roses live in your garden, nourish them with easy-to-apply, inexpensive homemade fertilizers.

Herbivore Manure
- Well-aged manure provides roses with need nutrients.
  
  Well-age herbivore manure (cows, sheep, goats, lamas, horses) provide roses with beneficial nutrients and vital nitrogen. Sprinkle 2 to 3 shovelfuls around the base of the rose. Cultivate lightly and water regularly.
Coffee
- Coffee shops and espresso stands are a good scource of coffee grounds for roses.
  
  Coffee grounds are loaded with nitrogen. Pour stale coffee around the base of the plant. Sprinkle coffee grounds on top of the soil or add to the compost pile.
Worm Casting
- Georgia red wigglers are easy to raise at home.
  
  Purchase worm castings online or at local home and garden supply stores. Worm casting provide nitrogen and micro-nutrients roses require. You can start your own worm box at home. Worms are excellent recyclers of kitchen waste. Add coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable scraps, fruit cores and rinds as well as starch-based foods to the worm box. Avoid adding an excessive amount of meat, fat or vinegar-based foods to the worm box.
Organic Compost
- Cultivate rose bushes lightly to avoid root damage.
  
  Organic compost, from the home compost pile, is an ideal rose fertilizer. Rich in nitrogen, potassium, calcium and micro-nutrients required for plant growth, organic compost will not burn your rose plant. Sprinkle 1 to 2 inches of compost around the base of the rose bush and cultivate lightly.
  
  Shredded newspaper, torn cardboard, kitchen scraps including coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable peelings, fruit rinds and table scraps can all be added to the home compost pile. A home compost pile is an excellent way to recycle and provides nutrient-rich, cost-free fertilizer for your roses.
Miscellaneous
- Provide roses with 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
  
  Mix equal parts of Epsom salt, a rich source of magnesium sulfate, with bone meal and cotton seed meal. Bone meal and cottonseed meal provide rapidly dissolving nitrogen. Sprinkle around the base of the rose bush, cultivate lightly and water well.

Golden Zest Shrub Rose Care

How to Trim Dead Blooms From a Rose Bush

Growing Roses

Homemade Natural Fertilizer for Roses

Herbivore Manure

Coffee

Worm Casting

Organic Compost

Miscellaneous