Rose Care: Winter Tasks
During the winter months rose bushes are resting. It is also a time of purification for them, but if you do not take appropriate measures to protect them it can also be a time of disaster. Rose care at this time involves preparation and protection.
Own-root species and 'old garden roses' are usually sufficiently hardy to be able to survive the winter without damage, but budded roses, hybrid teas and other more fragile types need protection if they are not to suffer in winter.
You can start preparing for winter rose care by selecting appropriate varieties. Choose ones from printed catalogs, online stores or your local garden supplier, which can withstand the cold and hardship of winter, depending on winter conditions in your area. You should be able to find maps depicting 'hardiness zones' which can help you to select appropriate varieties.
Roses have the best chance of surviving the winter unscathed if you force them into being completely dormant. By the middle of August you should stop fertilizing them, and after October has started you should also stop cutting flowers and dead-heading. Further dormancy is promoted if you allow the formation of hips.
If your area experiences extreme cold, then you should try to ensure that the plants remain frozen during winter rather than cycling through frozen and thawed states. Therefore you should not cover the plants too early but wait until after the first hard frost of winter, when the leaves have begun to wither and fall. Remove leaves that have fallen, as well as other debris from around the bushes, as these can carry disease as well as insects. These insects will hibernate there and then in the spring will feed on your plants.
Before you cover plants to give winter protection, prune the taller ones back. Don't do a complete prune because you will want to cut the diseased and dean canes back in the spring. You could also tie canes together, in order to protect them from damage by strong winter winds.
A common way of protecting rose bushes in the winter is hilling, in which you take well drained soil or compost and pile it around and over the bush. Pile up to a depth of around ten to twelve inches, and make sure that the soil or compost is not too moist, but is cold and dry.
When the pile of soil over the bush is completely frozen you can then cover it with hay, leaves or evergreen branches.
If your roses are healthy and protected in this way, they have an excellent chance of surviving the cold months, if you have prepared them properly.
Rose care tasks being finished, and your rose bushes put to bed, as it were, to sleep through the winter, you can then spend time sorting out your tools, sharpening and tidying and then you will be ready for action in spring. Then you can relax and browse through some rose catalogs, and decide what plants to order for next year.
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Look after your roses like a treasure