Mistakes When Preparing Roses For Winter

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Many growers incorrectly prepare the rose garden for winter, as a result, the bushes do not bloom or die. Let's take a look at 7 mistakes they make in the fall

Mistake 1. Short cut

It is convenient to cover trimmed bushes and process them in spring. Friends and neighbors distribute similar advice to each other and recommend pruning roses in the fall, leaving stems 20-30 cm long. Do not rush to do this if you do not know which group your plant belongs to.

Not all roses can be greatly shortened. This technique is used for floribund and hybrid tea. Ground cover and climbing plants are not radically cut off. In the summer, they will spend energy on growing shoots and may not bloom.

If you don’t know what kind of rose you have, it’s better not to prune. Before sheltering, remove the buds, cut off the leaves and bend the branches to the ground. Thin shoots that appear in late summer / autumn should not be removed. They will not withstand the frost and will definitely die, but … By shortening such a branch in the spring, we awaken the lower buds, from which powerful shoots with buds will appear.

Mistake 2. Thick shelter

There is an opinion that the warmer the shelter, the better the rose will overwinter. It is important to understand that the protection from frost is not the thickness of the material with which we wrap the bush, but the air gap under it, which appears between the ground and the plant.

The best way is to create an air cushion. A frame is made over the bush, covered with spunbond, then snow. It is known that a thick layer of snow protects well from freezing. On sale there are special covering structures made of polymer tubes. You can use materials at hand: boards, branches, plywood boxes / boxes.

It is difficult to cover a climbing rose with boxes, here they do differently. After bending the branches, they are pinned with iron brackets or the ends are fixed with large stones, bricks. After that, they put arcs and cover with lutrasil (non-woven, agrotex, spunbond). So that the edges are not lifted by the wind, heavy objects are placed on them. Then the snow will do its job.

Mistake 3. Autumn feeding

Novice flower growers are mistaken that in autumn roses only need potassium and phosphorus. To increase immunity, a complex feeding is required, which contains calcium and macronutrients.

You can not use nitrogen, as it will provoke growth, the bush will waste energy and leave exhausted in the winter. Nitrogen is found in liquid organic matter, urea, sodium humate, manure - do not use them in the fall.

Good potassium supplementation with potassium magnesium, potassium sulfate, chloride or potassium sulfate. As a source of phosphorus, you can take single or double superphosphate. Calcium is ash, chalk, dolomite flour.

Mistake 4. The rose has flexible shoots

Hoping for the elasticity of the branches, they break during bending. Many varieties have long and thick branches, which are difficult to bend before sheltering. You can avoid kinks if you do a gradual bending.

At the end of September, start tilting the branches. For fastening, metal pins, staples are used. You can put an iron corner, a profile pipe on the bush. Reduce your distance from the ground every week. By the time of covering, the branches will lie on the ground. It is better to bend a rose in warm weather, at this time they are more pliable and not brittle.

Mistake 5. Before winter, roses need to be spud

Indeed, sprinkling the root part with earth, an additional layer of protection appears. This technique is only suitable for seedlings grown from cuttings, for own-rooted species, with a shallow root depth or when grafting is above the soil.

All other rose can suffer from autumn hilling. During the thaw period, the branches die, with the onset of frost the bark cracks. Roses grafted onto a rosehip do not need hilling and sprinkling, as well as all species in which the grafting site is deepened by 4 cm.

Mistake 6. Watering and loosening

Autumn watering fills the plant with strength and makes it possible to better survive the winter - this does not apply to roses. Regular watering is needed in the summer, in September it stops, and the bush begins to prepare for dormancy. If you continue to water, the growing season will not end, the plant will weaken and overwinter poorly.

Loosening the trunk circle promotes growth and makes it difficult to prepare for winter. From the end of August, it is not necessary to loosen roses - this can lead to the awakening of dormant buds and disrupt the rhythm of life.

Mistake 7. Covering in advance

Finishing the summer season at the end of September, many cover roses. It's still warm in October and they can start to sing. Roses do not freeze slightly with a slight minus, withstand normally -5… -7. It is better to cover in November, when a stable zero is established, with small minuses.