You've picked out the perfect rose and now it's time to plant it in your garden and give it a forever home! Jason is here to show you how to perfectly plant your new rose bush (we love the David Austin Rose collection!) so that it will stay happy and healthy all year long. You'll need a pitchfork, a spade or shovel, some compost (we prefer Sea Soil) and of course, your rose!

The first thing you want to do is use your pitchfork to loosen up the soil, in a 24" wide circle, to ensure you have good aeration for your rose plant roots. Fluffy soil gives the roots an easy time growing and gaining access to water and food. You can remove any large rocks or pieces of wood, so you have a clean start.

Then use your spade or shovel to dig a hole, about twice the width of your pot and a little deeper. Add some organic compost (we recommend Sea Soil) to the bottom of the pot to give your plant a head start! Take your rose out of the pot and gently set it into the hole. Then backfill the hole with the surrounding soil. Keep it nice and light, tapping the soil down with your hand or toe, but not compressing it too hard.

Finally, add 2-3 inches of compost around your rose bush, and then give it a good watering to get it started. To keep your rose plant happy and healthy, you'll want to water it throughout the growing season. Take off spent blooms in order to encourage fresh ones. Next year, between January and April, you'll need to prune your rose bush so that it's 1/3-2/3 of it's current size. This will promote growth throughout spring and blooms all summer!

Enjoy your David Austin Rose bush all year long!