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WINTERIZING YOUR ROSES
BY
It is soon
going to be time to get those roses covered for winter. Many of us like
to wait until November and we always cross our fingers that the weather
will be cooperative so that we can wait that long. Never know about
So on to
winterizing tips. Be sure all rose leaves are removed from the garden
and that they do not go into the compost pile. Canes and leaves will
carry fungus spores over into the spring just waiting to pounce on those
first new leaves. I usually prune the canes down to about two feet so
most of the leaves are taken off that way and not as many are left to be
picked off. By cutting them back to two feet they do not blow in the
cold winter wind and break. Then in the spring they can be pruned to the
desired size and any winter kill removed.
Climbers that
bloom on old wood may be laid down if possible and covered with leaves
to protect them. If the canes are too big to do that without breaking
them then it would pay to spray them with Wilt-stop or Wilt-pruf, to
keep moisture in the canes. You will need to remove the leaves if you
can. I know climbers get too big to do that easily. Be sure that you
spray all sides of the canes, not only what you can see! I usually do
not do this because climbers are pretty tough, especially those like
“Blaze”, that big red one that you often see on older homes. For a
special one or a new one that you would hate to lose, this may be a good
idea
Most shrub
roses are also too big to pick off all of the leaves. If you have some
black spot, do get rid of those leaves. The “Knock Out” shrub roses, and
many of the newer shrub roses, are quite black spot resistant, so I
don’t even spray them regularly If canes are left long they will whip in
the wind. You can prune them back as far as you wish. As with the other
roses, in the spring they can be pruned to the desired size and older
canes cut out to leave room for new canes.
Another thing
you may wish to do is spray the ground now, and then spray again in the
spring, with Mancozeb, available at garden centers. This chemical kills
blackspot and other fungus spores that lurk in the soil.
You will need
to mound compost, soil or leaves around the bud union, especially if the
bud union, that knob where the canes come up, is not at least two inches
underground. The bud union is the grafted part of the rose that contains
the essentials of the new rose that you bought, and it must be
protected, or the rose may revert to the rootstock. If you get long,
lanky canes in the spring with 7 leaflets instead of 5, it has probably
reverted and will need to be removed Own root roses that are grown on
their own roots, will not need to be covered as much, since those roots
will always send up the plants you bought and these roots go deep.
Compost makes
excellent cover as does garden soil, but be sure the garden soil is
taken from another part of the garden. If grass or leaves are used, they
will need to have something to hold them in place or the wind will soon
blow any cover away. I have used chicken wire or small tree branches.
Christmas trees make good cover and you can avoid having to haul those
away. The ground should be well frozen by then so that is a good time to
cover. The whole point of covering is to keep the ground frozen, not to
keep the roots warm!!!
Miniatures are
very hardy little plants and most will do well with a covering of
leaves, Use oak leaves, which will not pack down as maple and other
softer leaves do The many stems of minis seem to do a pretty good job of
holding the leaves, but if there is an area which get wind that whips
around a corner, you will need to provide some cover to keep the leaves
from blowing away.
While most
roses need to be protected and covered in the winter, the most cold
hardy varieties often have features that make them very good winter
plants. Many of them are shrubs and Old Garden Roses that produce
colorful hips, making them a good color addition to your winter
landscape. Hips vary from plump and round to long and slender. They
range in color from bright orange to red and deep purple. They are great
food for wildlife and birds, the fruit and seed eating juncos, cardinals
and chickadees.
Has it occurred
to you to list good gardening tools on your wish list for Christmas
gifts? So many people want ideas for giving. How about new pruners, or
those long gloves that protect your arms from thorns, and there are many
good books on growing Roses.
(Revised by the author from “The
Rose Leaf”, Lincoln Rose Society monthly newsletter, November 2009 and
reprinted with permission. Copyright 2011
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SHOULD I USE
BY
Regular readers
to this column know that I do not like the styrofoam
A convenient
alternative is to purchase a “rose collar” and fill it with mulch, soil,
or compost. A “rose collar” is a plastic collar about 12 inches tall
that goes around a bush or shrub and then snaps together. They work
fine, are easy to use, does a neat job holding your mulch in place, and
takes very little storage space in the summer. Finish your pruning in
the spring after the leaves start to come out.
Remember, mulch
in the winter after the night time temperatures are consistently in the
mid to low 20’s to keep the ground cold, and to avoid the freezes and
thaws. Then mulch in the summer to keep the roots cool and the ground
from drying out. Copyright 2011 |