Gardening Tasks

Our work supports rose bush health and encourages beautiful new blooms that are enjoyed by the public spring through fall. Our work in the rose garden includes:

• Annual pruning of the 400+ roses in January; 

• Fertilizing the roses in spring;

• Deadheading twice a month during the blooming season (May through October);

• Replanting/refurbishing the beds and updating irrigation as finances permit.

Rose garden plot map

Annual pruning

The continuously-blooming rose bushes in the park produce growth and blooms on new wood. In January we prune all of the roses in the park, remove all leaves so diseases do not overwinter, and tidy up the beds. Within a month new canes and leaves make an appearance. 

Fertilizing

In early spring we fertilize the bushes with alfalfa pellets and organic fertilizer. The fertilizer provides nutrients which encourages growth and makes them better able to withstand insect and disease problems. After fertilizing we cross our fingers, hoping for rain to water the fertilizers into the soil. The City of Livermore provides the alfalfa pellets. Kellogg Garden Products donates a portion of the organic fertilizer, while Western Garden Nursery provides a discounted price on the remaining portion.

Deadheading

During spring and summer we cut off spent flowers to encourage new blooms. The park provides an abundance of color and fragrance to workers and the public during this season. Deadheading over the summer provides an opportunity to socialize with members as we work and learn how their gardens are progressing. 

Helpful Materials For Leading This Activity

Check with the Storage Manager for information about available materials.

Garden History

Where First, S, Second, and Holmes streets come together the City of Livermore created a small triangular park, 15 feet on each side, to help control traffic. Carl Ferrario developed this area into a little park, planting flowers and shrubs, some ordered from Italy, squeezing them into the small area. In 1935 the City erected bronze signs officially naming it “Carl Ferrario Park.”

In 1937 Jackson & Perkins opened a rose growing business in Livermore. Other rose growers and hybridizers followed, and the rose business flourished until 1968. In 1963 the East Bay Rose Society and Livermore Lions Club developed Carl Ferrario Park into a rose garden to showcase locally developed roses. Rose hybridizers included Dr Walter Lammerts, Dr Dennison Morey and Gene Boerner. The park was renamed for prominent Livermore citizen Rasmus A. Hansen. At the park’s opening ceremony on June 7, 1964, Mabel Hansen, Rasmus’s widow, accepted a bouquet of fragrant, deep red Chrysler Imperial roses, a rose hybridized by Dr Lammerts. 

The fountain in the park was constructed after the rose garden opened. A large wooden wagon, loaded with lumber from the Santa Cruz area, was moved to the park in 1955. The wagon was hand built in 1849 by Martin Luther Marsh for a lumber company in Nevada City. Carl Marsh, Martin’s grandson, gave the Livermore Chamber of Commerce permission to retrieve the wagon and move it to Livermore. The park is also graced with a bronze statue of three children dancing in a circle. 

Improvements

While some rose bushes can live for many years, a number of the bushes planted over 50 years ago are no longer thriving. 

In 2014, 82 roses were planted, 75 of which were generously donated to the park by Star Roses. The goals of the planting were to replace aging roses, add roses found in the original 1960s garden, fill in gaps where roses were missing, and add a planting bed dedicated to roses hybridized by Dr. Walter Lammerts, including well-known Queen Elizabeth, Bewitched, and Chrysler Imperial roses. 

In 2021 a $1000 grant from National Garden Clubs Inc PLANT AMERICA Community Projects permitted replacement of 39 roses in various beds in the garden. Alden Lane Nursery recommended the best roses for different locations in the garden (near a busy street, competing with redwood tree roots, and the need to flourish in sunny or shady locations). The nursery generously provided a discounted price on the rose bushes and soil amendments.

In 2023 the City of Livermore improved the park by removing a portion of turf and installing drip irrigation in some of the rose beds. They also constructed and installed a sign at the park, identifying it as “Hansen Park, City of Livermore, Supported by: Livermore Amador Valley Garden Club”. LAVGC maintains a friendly partnership with the City of Livermore that permits improvements to the rose garden that the public can enjoy. 

In 2024 a generous donation from a LAVGC member permitted replacement of a bed of poorly performing roses with 10 new bushes. The roses bloomed wonderfully during their first summer.