Question
I live in zone4/5 just N.of Lake Ontario at Cobourg and have a lot of cedars.I would like to plant roses to grow up into them, or at least close to cedar trees. Is there any way I can prevent the cedar roots from killing the roses?

Answer
Cedars, as well as other large trees, need a lot of water to survive, so anything that is growing near the roots has to fight for water. To get around that problem, there are a couple of things you can do. One is to dig a very large hole and plant the rose in it. Gardeners have used old garbage cans with the bottom cut out. The other is to plant the rose about 5 feet away from the base of the tree and then lay a pole on a 45' angle towards the trunk of the tree. Then train the climber's canes to grow along the pole and finally tie the main canes to the tree to encourage it to climb up. Also just make sure the rose is very well watered and fertilized, plus has a nice thick mulch for the first 3 years as it gets settled. Then make sure to remember to water well the following years when it is hot. You might also consider the Hybrid Musks as this classification doesn't mind growing in part or filtered shade.