Preparing roses for winter

Anyone who grows roses in their summer cottage or garden knows for sure that this capricious beauty, glorified by Antoine de Saint Exupéry in “The Little Prince,” actually requires regular care, appropriate to the season. The stage of preparing rose bushes for winter, especially in regions with a harsh frosty climate, is an important task for both beginners and experienced gardeners. And there are no trifles in this.

Everything is important here: at what time, with what and how to cover the bushes of an adult rose, how and with what to feed these ornamental plants so that they do not freeze or get wet during the winter and the protracted spring, but are successfully reborn to your delight. Long-standing floriculture experience has developed completely clear and useful measures, which this article will introduce you to.

It is very important for novice gardeners not to overdo it and not to play it safe: do not rush as fast as you can at the first light frost to quickly cover the roses. Such panicky zeal can cause them direct harm, if not death. You need to skillfully transfer rose bushes into winter vegetation mode to get the best result.

Removing excess foliage
Should roses be pruned in the fall?
Pruning and bending climbing roses
How to bend a rose before winter?
Rules and methods for bending rose bushes
How and what to cover roses for the winter? Frame covering of roses for the winter
Insulating materials for covering roses
Method of covering rose bushes with spruce branches
Covering roses with non-woven materials

Strange as it may sound, you need to start preparing roses for winter in hot July according to the principle: “Prepare the sleigh in summer.” In fact, this is due to the regime of feeding them this month only with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers.

The final mineral dressing should be potassium magnesia, which contains potassium, which is responsible for the development of the root system and the formation of wood skeletal branches, which accordingly prepare all shoots for the winter cold. In turn, magnesium helps the formation of leaf and flower buds, as well as shoots for the successful growing season of beautiful rose bushes next year.

From the beginning of August, the application of nitrogen fertilizers to the soil is stopped, but just at this time it is necessary to carry out the first strengthening winter root feeding of roses, which consists of 25 g of superphosphate, 2.5 g of boric acid (or 3.5 g of borax) and 10 g of sulfate potassium dissolved in 10 liters of water. This amount of solution should be enough for 4 m² of area. The second strengthening fertilizer is applied to the soil a month later - at the beginning of September: 16 g of potassium sulfate, or potassium monophosphate, and 15 g of superphosphate are dissolved in 10 liters of water.

But it is better to carry out foliar treatments of roses instead of root treatments - spray the bushes on the leaves with the same solutions, but in a concentration three times less than with root feeding.

From the beginning of autumn, they also stop loosening the soil under the bushes, so as not to provoke the growth of shoots from dormant buds, and from mid-September, they pluck out all the buds that are smaller than a pea, and those that are larger in size are allowed to ripen and form fruits.

Eschscholzia: growing from seeds, planting and care

In the photo: Trimmed rose bushes before wintering

Pruning roses for the winter

When to prune roses in the fall

Our website has already posted an article that describes in detail pruning roses in the fall for beginner gardeners, but we will briefly remind you of its contents. Should roses be pruned for winter? Certainly. Only park and groundcover species do not require pruning, and climbing roses are pruned only lightly. The pruning procedure strengthens the plants, increases their frost resistance, and improves air exchange in the crown.

Propagation of roses by cuttings

Pruning is carried out just before the plants are covered for the winter, in the second half of October or early November. Prepare your instruments in advance - they should be well sharpened and sterile.

How to trim

Both mature and newly planted bushes are pruned: you need to remove all dry, diseased, old and weak stems, cut off flowers and buds, and completely remove foliage from the branches. Leave 3-5 of the most developed shoots on the bush, equidistant from each other if possible, and cut out all the rest. All shoots that have not had time to ripen are also subject to mandatory removal, since in winter they will begin to rot under cover and can destroy the entire bush.

When pruning, follow these rules:

choose a sunny, windless day for the procedure;
thick stems older than three years with dried bark are best cut out with a hacksaw;
cuts and cuts must be oblique so that water drains from them without stagnating;
the cut should pass over the swollen, but not sprouted bud at a distance of half a centimeter from it;
pruning is done on the outer bud, then the growing shoots will not intersect, and light and air will penetrate into the middle of the bush;
shorten the stems to the white core.

In the photo: Shelter of a large area with roses

It is also important to know how long to cut rose shoots, taking into account the specifics of the species. There are three types of shoot pruning:

long pruning - the shoot is shortened slightly, leaving at least 9-10 buds on it;
medium pruning, in which the shoot is cut at a height of 35 cm from the surface of the site, leaving 5 buds on it;
short pruning, which is needed only in extreme cases, since the shoots are removed almost to the base, leaving no more than two buds on them.

Polyanthus, hybrid tea roses and floribunda are pruned to four or five lower developed buds. Cascading standard roses are pruned short only in the first year, leaving shoots 15 cm long, and in subsequent years only faded shoots are pruned, and young ones are slightly shortened. Grandiflora roses, like remontant varieties, are pruned, leaving 5 buds on the shoots. Shoots of Old English and shrub varieties of roses are shortened by three quarters or two thirds.

Park roses, the most winter-hardy of all species, are subjected only to sanitary pruning, removing old, damaged and weak branches, and young strong shoots are only slightly shortened.

Planting and caring for roses in the garden

After pruning, remove all leaves from the shoots by wearing a glove and running your hand along the shoots from bottom to top to avoid damaging the buds.

How are roses pruned?

The pruning shears must be sharp; the cut is made a centimeter from the bud along an oblique path.

The choice of pruning: short, medium or gentle depends on the variety of roses and the preferences of the rose grower. Floribunda can have more shoots. To make flowering more active, do a medium pruning. For groundcovers, it is enough to cut off only the tops. For hybrid tea varieties, short (2.3) buds or medium pruning (6.8 buds) will be optimal. Medium - for standard varieties, roses of English selection.

As a rule, gardeners experimentally select a method that is convenient for them. After this, you need to collect the remaining branches and leaves and burn them. Thus destroying pests and affected leaves.

Penultimate stage of preparation

After the remains of the pruned bush have been removed, the ground around the bush is dug up. You can add a small amount of fertilizer, but not nitrogen.

It is important to remember that you can only cover a rose bush by placing it on dry ground. If it rains in the region, they make a special canopy from film.

Pruning climbing roses for the winter

For climbing roses, damaged, dry and weak shoots, flowers and buds are removed for the winter, developed strong shoots are only slightly shortened, but one or two old shoots are cut to 35-40 cm - to stimulate the growth of basal replacement shoots.

If you carry out full pruning, you can provoke the appearance of a large number of non-flowering vegetative shoots next season.

Climbing roses are pruned in late September or early October. After the procedure, do not forget to remove the leaves from the branches, and then remove all plant debris from under the bush.

In the photo: Covering roses for the winter with covering material

Does the time for shelter depend on the variety?

The most frost-resistant roses are species and representatives of park varieties. Few hybrids are cold-resistant. But even the hardiest representatives of roses need preparation and insulation for the winter season, although in the middle zone they are rarely covered. Lack of shelter for the winter is possible only in the southernmost regions. Although even there it is necessary to properly prepare the plant for wintering - the rhizomes are hilled up, and pinching and fertilizing are completed already in the first ten days of September. In November, the bushes are carefully treated with a herbal antiseptic.

In order not to take risks, experienced gardeners recommend covering the bushes at least partially, even in the southern zone. And if the temperature is likely to drop to -30 °C, the flowers need to be completely insulated, even when there are roses growing on the site that tolerate minus temperatures well. Plant growers include the following varieties among varieties characterized by higher cold resistance compared to others:

Munch;
Jens;
Pink Grotendorst;
Scabrosa;
Ritausma;
Hansa;
Adelaide Hootles;
Golden Celebration.

Hybrid tea, exotic, climbing and miniature varieties of roses are less resistant to cold. Such plants must be provided with complete protection throughout the cold season. Such varieties are hilled up for the winter, insulated on top, and often it is even necessary to bury them in the soil. For a good wintering, it is recommended to cover the climbing rose with a film or roofing material cape.

For reference!

The following varieties are sensitive to a drop in temperature: Souvenir de la Malmaison, Mundi, Gallica Hybrid, Louise Odier. These varieties must be grown either in a greenhouse or in a flowerpot - so that before the onset of cold weather it is possible to bring the plants indoors.

Sheltering roses for the winter

When to cover

By freeing the roses from their leaves, you will give them a signal that it is time to rest. Allow the cuts and cuts to dry thoroughly and begin covering the bushes for the winter. However, you should not rush too much, since in the warm, long autumn, roses will continue to grow without leaves, and if they are covered at this time, the plant buds may dry out and die.

At what temperature should roses be covered for the winter? It is necessary to keep the roses for two weeks at a temperature of -2 to -5 ºC so that their vital activity is completely extinguished, and only after that build a shelter. Please note that roses grafted onto rose hips can withstand temperatures of -10-12 ºC, while self-rooted ones die at -3 ºC.

When and how to cover in the middle zone and in the Moscow region

The optimal time for constructing a shelter in the central regions of Russia is the first or second ten days of November. Choose a dry, clear day for this, when the temperature is within -5-7 ºC.

Flower seedlings - how to grow them correctly

How to cover roses for the winter in the Moscow region? Hybrid tea, polyanthus roses and floribunda are bent to the ground, having previously laid spruce branches under them, and secured with wooden or metal pins. The base of the bush is covered with dry soil, peat, compost or humus to a height of 35-40 cm, and then the lying roses are covered with dry foliage or spruce branches. You can install metal arcs over a lying bush and stretch covering material over them.

In the photo: Insulating the base of rose bushes

The shoots of hybrid tea, standard and floribunda roses are more fragile and less flexible than the stems of climbing roses, so it is difficult to bend them to the ground. Leave these roses in an upright position, building above them metal arched supports of the required height, on which you can stretch the film, but do not forget to hill the base of the bush high before covering it.

Not all roses need shelter. Most of the park varieties and hybrids are characterized by such high winter hardiness that they do not require protection from the cold at all, and the bushes of those park varieties that are worth worrying about should be hilled up high enough and wrapped in paper for the winter.

Shelter of roses in the Urals

Covering roses in autumn in the Urals can be done at the end of October, when the air temperature reaches -5 ºC. It is good if dry snow falls by this time - its natural protection slows down the cooling of the soil. But you can’t rely on nature, so it’s better to cover the roses. In mid-October, trim the bushes to the height of the shelter, remove immature shoots and leaves from them, and remove debris and plant debris from the tree trunk circle.

Sometimes rodents settle under the shelter, damaging the bark in the lower part of the shoots, so it is advisable to place poisoned baits under the bushes: sawdust is soaked in a creolin solution at the rate of 1 tablespoon of the drug per bucket of water and laid out under the bushes. The bush is covered with peat or dry soil to a third of its height, and the upper part is tied with spruce branches.

In the photo: Sheltering roses for the winter

For single short-pruned bushes, wooden boxes are used as shelter, which are covered with film on top, pressing its edges with boards, bricks or sprinkled with earth so that a gust of wind does not tear off the polyethylene. However, do not press the film completely; leave small vents in several places for air exchange.

If a harsh winter is expected, make a hut over the bush from boards or sheets of plywood, and cover it with film on top. The height of the air-dry shelter should be such that its “ceiling” is 10 cm above the bush. In such a house, roses do not freeze or rot.

If you grow a lot of roses in your area, make a board frame over the bushes the width of the flowerbed and stretch the film over it, also pressing it along the edges to the ground.

How to cover roses in Siberia

Roses covered for the winter will not die from frost, but they may dry out. To prevent this from happening, you should not cover the roses too early, and in order to determine the required timing, you have to carefully monitor the weather forecast - after all, sometimes even the beginning of November can be warm in Siberia.

Young, recently planted roses can be covered with five-liter plastic bottles with a cut out bottom and covered with dry leaves on top. In order to avoid damping off the rose, you need to remove the cap from the bottle.

Adult, short-pruned bushes should be buried high in soil and also covered with dry leaves.

In the photo: Covering roses with spruce branches for safe wintering

The fact is that in Siberia the winters are snowy, so roses need to be kept from freezing only until the snow falls, and then they will safely overwinter under it.

What to make arches for covering roses from. Air-dry shelter

Let's not reinvent the wheel, but let's look to the past. Our grandmothers, through trial and error, came to the conclusion that roses are more successful overwintering in low, dry shelters with an air gap. This is how this method got its name - air-dry shelter (APU). Let's remember how it was...

During the years of total shortage and in the absence of any other choice, roses were covered with building materials that were at hand at that moment, most often these were boards, roofing felt and film. The first step was to build wooden frames. These could be either rectangular shapes with a flat roof, or frame houses or huts. A prerequisite is strength, since they must withstand the weight of roofing felt and snow. The frames were covered with overlapping sheets of roofing felt, and to protect them from rain and moisture, a film was laid on top - hence the name of the method. Since these materials do not allow air to pass through, the sides or vents must be left open until the first frost. With the onset of stable subzero temperatures, they were carefully and tightly closed. In the spring, the order of opening and ventilation began with opening the ends.

Over the years, the APU method has established itself as the most reliable and effective. However, over the past time it has undergone significant transformations. Only the general principle has remained unchanged - the construction of frame houses and huts still lies at its basis. And with the advent of a huge variety of garden tools and modern covering materials, the construction of shelters for roses has become much simpler, easier and, importantly, faster. The quality and functionality of shelters have also noticeably improved: they have become more reliable in terms of wintering and more convenient to construct. Let's look at some of the most popular and simple methods of shelter and their features.

First of all, let me remind you: in order to see the luxurious flowering of roses in the middle zone, it is necessary to preserve the entire ground part of the bushes, or rather, their shoots along the entire length. This means that roses need to be covered for the winter. You need to think about the future shelter and the method of its construction at the stage of planting, namely, in which direction you will bend the bushes (this is especially important when planting climbing and standard roses). You should also calculate the length and width of future shelters, their shape, and provide space for the construction of frames.

The easiest way is to build a long rectangular shelter no wider than 1.5 m.

Consequently, it is more convenient to plant roses not as single bushes or tapeworms, but in arrays in one or two rows or in a checkerboard pattern. Rose gardens of a wide, irregular, round or curved shape with smooth turns will require more careful skill in constructing frames, they will not be the most convenient to care for, and construction will take you longer.

Sheltering climbing roses for the winter

The difficulty of covering climbing roses is that they cannot be pruned too much, otherwise they will not bloom next year - after all, plants of this species bloom on last year's shoots. Therefore, the climbing bush needs to be bent to the ground in several steps, like a raspberry, and laid on a bed of spruce branches. Cover roses when persistent sub-zero temperatures set in. Roses laid on a bed of spruce branches are covered on top with the same spruce branches or dry leaves, and then with film or covering material.

Planting and caring for climbing roses in the garden

Covering material

To cover roses for the winter, use the following material:

Conditions for growing freesia at home

plastic film;
lutrasil;
spunbond;
geotextiles;
dry leaves;
spruce branches;
burlap and rags;
old blankets and coats;
boards and plywood.

Which material is better to choose depends on the type of rose and the method of covering. Large plants with good immunity will only need to be covered with leaves or spruce branches, but for sensitive species it is necessary to build “houses” from boards and plywood, wrapping them additionally in bags and rags.

To cover large areas, you can use polyethylene film, but geotextiles, lutrasil or spunbond, which are stretched over a metal or wooden frame, are better. These materials not only protect roses from the cold, but also remove fumes that cause damping off of plants.

In the photo: How to cover roses for the winter with spruce branches

The density of the material must be at least 200 g/m², and the material must be folded several times. The non-woven shelter stretched over the frame must be covered at the bottom with long boards and pressed down with bricks. If, when covering plants with film, it is necessary to leave air vents, then spunbond, lutrasil and geotextiles must be securely fastened around the entire perimeter so that there are no holes left anywhere through which cold winter air will penetrate.

Using non-woven materials for covering, you can not remove climbing roses from their support for the winter: their base is hilled to a height of 30 cm, and then the bush is securely wrapped in several layers of material, securing the structure with staples and a stapler or clothespins.

Temperature – when a shelter is not yet needed and when it needs to be erected

The plant can easily withstand slight drops in temperature. So, frosts down to -5 ̊C are not a threat to the plant. At this thermometer mark, the crop feels normal and even benefits - light frost hardens the plant and helps the development of the bush. For this reason, it is not advisable to cover the plant until the end of October. Even in the case of capricious and delicate types of hybrid tea roses, it is not recommended to provide shelter for the winter until a more serious drop in temperature.

For reference!

When gardeners insulate rose bushes too early, the temperature inside the shelter rises, which is bad when taking into account the increasing soil moisture in the early to mid-autumn period. This leads to excess moisture and rotting of the bush. It is recommended to start covering the plant after the temperature has been consistently lower than -5 ̊C for 7 days.

Representatives of decorative flowering crops can withstand temperatures down to -7 °C without catastrophic consequences for their own viability. Some plant growers even recommend waiting until the thermometer reaches this limit. Low temperatures help the crop to properly enter a dormant state, and also increases plant immunity by hardening the root system and the above-ground part of the bush.

The factor that determines the temperature suitable for starting insulation work is the ability to maintain dryness inside the wintering structure for the rose. It is prohibited to cover bushes with wet soil, wet leaf litter or damp covering materials. The bushes of the plant should also be dry. Following this rule reduces the likelihood of the proliferation of harmful insects, the development of rot and other diseases.

Be sure to also read about how to save a rose from wilting.

Easy cover

This type of insulating structure for wintering flower bushes is built when the winter season in the region is not particularly severe. Often this design is performed after the hardening period for the rose, when the air temperature has dropped to -7 °C, but has not yet dropped to a stable -10 degrees or less. In this case, roses can be covered with the following materials:

mulch;
sawdust;
spruce branches;
straw;
foliage.

With a light cover option, the decorative foliage crop is not completely covered. This type of insulation can also be used in regions where in the winter season there is a thick layer of snow, which well protects the delicate plant from the harmful effects of low temperatures (Siberian Territory and the like). And in the southern regions there is no need to shelter for the winter at all, since in these regions the temperature rarely stays for a long time at -10 ̊C or lower.

Capital

The capital type of insulation is erected after frosts become stable. Often this time in the middle zone and northern regions occurs at the end of November or the beginning of December. A thick layer of mulch is poured into the base of the bush, on top of which spruce branches or some other similar material is laid. Afterwards, 3-8 stakes are driven around the perimeter to make it possible to cover the bush with non-woven material.

It is necessary to attach a film over the non-woven fabric that will not be torn off or damaged by the wind. However, it is not recommended to wrap the plant tightly with film, since during winter thaws the material must be lifted on one side to ventilate the bush. This manipulation will also prevent the rose from drying out due to the increase in temperature under cover.