Winterizing Your Rose Plants
By Kay DiVerde
Start preparing your roses for winter in the late summer and early fall by leaving them alone - except for watering. At this time of year, do not feed or prune them: even limit the amount of heavy picking you do. All of these efforts may promote new growth that doesn't have time to develop enough before the cold weather hits. As mentioned, you do need to water your rose plants even in late summer. The plants need this water, so they will have adequate moisture around the roots even after the ground freezes.
One way to protect your rose plants from cold winter temperatures is to mound soil around the base of the plant. The mound can be from 6 to 12 inches high. Not only will this soil protect the plant from the extreme winter cold, but it also helps to keep the roots from getting dried out. Wait to apply the soil until after you have had a few hard freezes (a good judge is to wait until the ground is almost too hard to dig). If you apply the soil too early, the warmth it provides may cause new growth to start.
When applying a soil protection, bring the soil in from another area, such as the vegetable garden, instead of just digging up soil around the rose plant. Moving dirt around the rose plants makes the root system more vulnerable. Do not use peat for making mounds. It holds in too much moisture that may freeze and serve as an ice pack around the plant.
During the late fall, do some cosmetic pruning on your rose plants. This is the time to remove leaves and flowers, and also to shorten very long canes somewhat. Do not put fallen leaves in the compost. Instead, burn them as the spores of black spot can winter over in them. You don't want this disease to spread in the compost.
If you live in a cold area, plan to cover your rose plants that are not generally hardy in your zone. Even if the plants are hardy where you live, they will look better next spring if you do protect them.
A natural way to cover the branches not protected by the soil mound is with pine and spruce branches. Burlap, balling sacking and jute can also be used to cover branches. Never use plastic sheeting to cover your plants. The sun causes the temperature to rise under the sheeting, which may start new growth that is then damaged by frost.
For more information about rose care and pruning visit Orchard's Edge. We've got great tools to prune your roses and all your plants.
Kay DiVerde is a freelance writer, horticultural researcher and consultant for Orchard's Edge. DiVerde also writes for a variety of newsletters and publications in the Midwest.
