Getting Roses Winter Ready
If you a re an avid gardener, then you are already programmed to get your roses ready for winter. Protecting your roses for winter mostly depends upon the climate you live in. In mild winter climates more than likely your roses will need little if any covering or protection. If you live in a region where the winters can be long, cold and harsh for long periods of time, then you will want to give them some sort of protection during this time.
Begin the winterization by pruning back your roses as soon as they have gone dormant, usually a week or two after the first hard frost in your area but before any hard freezing begins. Cut the long stems back by at least half their length and the shorter ones by at least a third, this will reduce the bulk and make them easier to cover and tie with rose cones, which will protect them from the cold winter winds. After pruning them back spray the pruned stem with a sealant to prevent moisture loss, and the thawing and re freezing which occurs during the winter months.
After you have cut your roses back hilling (piling dirt around the base) is another way to give them protection. When hilling be sure to take dirt from another part of the garden and not from around the rose itself, you don’t want to leave any roots exposed. The addition of mulch such as hay, straw, bark chips pine needles or shredded leaves will add to the winterization protection. Do this just before the ground freezes solid and it should be piled from 6 to 8 inches high or in colder climates as high as 12 inches high. The heat from the dirt and mulches draws heat from the ground to the lower branches of the bush giving some protection to the crown of the plant from the cold.
In the spring be very careful when removing the winterization dirt and mulch, being sure that the ground is good and unthawed and no damage to new growth can occur. Keep some of the mulch put aside just in case of a sudden frost. When danger of frost is completely passed give your roses an early spring fertilization and another about every six weeks until July, and watch them bloom profusely.
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