Rosa canina
Dog Rose
Common names: Rosehip, Hedge Rose, Wild Rose
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −30 °C
- Pruning
- Feb–Mar
- Harvest
- Sep–Nov
- Spacing
- 150 cm, rows 200 cm
- Water need
- Low
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Roberta F · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Dog Rose (Rosa canina) is the most common wild rose found in hedges. In late summer it produces bright red rosehips that are packed with vitamin C. The flesh can be used to make jam or preserves, and dried skins make a fruity‑sour tea. Its soft pink flowers appear in June and are a popular resource for wild bees.
Care instructions
Plant in autumn (October, week 42) in a sunny spot, it is very tolerant and grows on almost any soil. Harvest rosehips from September, preferably after the first frost (October/November, weeks 43‑46), when they are soft and sweeter. Prune the shrub only in winter to keep it light and vigorous.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestSep–Nov
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, humus-rich, well-drained, dry
The dog rose is undemanding about soil: almost any free-draining garden soil will do, from sandy loam to humus-rich. Good drainage is what matters: it does not tolerate waterlogging, but copes well with short dry spells. It particularly likes deep, rather lime-rich soils, because it roots deeply.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
Normally you do not have to feed the dog rose. On well-supplied garden soils it manages entirely without. If the soil is poor, you can work a thin layer of mature compost shallowly around the shrub in spring (March/April). At planting, horn shavings in the planting hole help it establish. Too much nitrogen only drives foliage at the expense of flowers and rose hips.
Pruning
Thin out your dog rose in late winter (Feb to March, weeks 6 to 11), taking out the old, perennial shoots (older than 2 years) close to the ground. The younger shoots stay, because it flowers on them the following year. Finish any heavier cutting before 1 March (bird protection) and leave the rose hips hanging as bird food until then.
Overwintering
The dog rose is completely hardy and needs no winter protection at all in the Central European lowlands. It loses its leaves in autumn and survives frost without trouble and without covering. In late winter (February to March) you thin it out by cutting the three-year-old shoots close to the ground; this keeps the shrub vital and promotes rose hips on the younger shoots.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Layering
- Runners
Rosa canina can be propagated in four ways, all of which succeed well without chemical aids.
Sowing (simple, but lengthy): In autumn, take the seeds from ripe rose hips and wash off the flesh thoroughly. Stratify the seeds: a few weeks warm in moist sand, followed by several weeks stored cool. Rose hip seeds have a tough dormancy, which this treatment breaks. Sow in spring in seed compost, about 1 cm deep. Germination can take several months, sometimes up to two years; patience is called for. The plants raised this way are wild roses that come true.
Cuttings (reliable, in summer): In late summer, cut semi-ripe, non-flowering shoots about 10 to 15 cm long with 4 to 5 buds. Remove the lower leaves and thorns, keeping 1 to 2 pairs of leaves at the top. Insert the cuttings in free-draining, sandy soil and keep them evenly moist, best under an airy cover. Rooting takes several weeks. Hardwood cuttings work as an alternative in autumn: put 20 to 25 cm long woody shoots straight into the open ground. Cuttings are considered very successful, especially with wild roses.
Layering (very easy, in early summer): In June, straight after flowering and while the shoots are still pliable, bend a long young shoot in an arch to the ground, scrape it in 5 to 8 cm deep at its lowest point and fix it with a forked branch, a hook or a stone. The tip of the shoot stays upright. Keep the soil evenly moist. Roots form at the bend from autumn onwards. The following spring you separate the rooted layer from the mother plant and replant it.
Suckers (fastest method, in autumn or early spring): Rosa canina produces plenty of root suckers around the mother plant. In autumn or before growth begins in spring, cut off a well-rooted sucker with the spade, make sure it has enough root mass, shorten the top growth by about a third and plant it in its new spot. These young plants establish quickly. Note: because canina suckers strongly, a root barrier is worthwhile along paths or at bed edges.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Dog Rose yourself
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