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Rose lovers know firsthand the capriciousness of these royal flowers. The biggest difficulty in growing roses in the middle zone is that they are very afraid of frost. This encourages gardeners to wrap their rose gardens as warmly as possible with the first cold weather. Unfortunately, such actions do not always lead to a positive result: some bushes still freeze, some roses rot, and several bushes may even die. The whole point is that, When buying a seedling, you need to find out whether this particular rose needs to be covered, what temperatures it can withstand without shelter, and also what and how to cover the bush.
From this article you can learn how to properly cover roses for the winter, whether it is possible to cover a specific variety and what material is best to use for this. And video and photo instructions with advice from experienced gardeners will help you understand the information well.
Is it possible to cover roses of different varieties?
Different varieties of roses require certain wintering conditions, so the first thing a gardener should do is inspect his rose garden and remember which variety each bush belongs to. And after that, decide how to cover the roses for the winter.
The attitude to low temperatures differs among different varieties of roses:
- Frosts are most dangerous for hybrid tea varieties and some varieties of climbing roses - these flowers need to be covered especially carefully;
- dwarf varieties and varieties of floribunda are characterized by increased resistance to frost - when covering such bushes, the main thing is not to overdo it so that the lashes do not dry out;
- park varieties are considered the most frost-resistant; in the central and southern regions of the country, such roses do not need to be covered at all or a lighter version of winter shelter is used.
When to cover roses for the winter
In most regions of Russia, roses cover themselves at the end of October or in the first ten days of November. However, the exact date depends on the climate in the region, the location of the flower bed, soil moisture and the variety of roses.
It is recommended to finally cover rose gardens when the air temperature stabilizes at -5 degrees or lower. This means that you need to wait - there should be sub-zero temperatures in the region (from -2 degrees) for 7-10 days. Only with the onset of stable frosts can rose gardens be covered, otherwise the bushes will mistake the warmth for the onset of spring and wake up ahead of time. Such roses with awakened buds will definitely freeze, even in mild frosts.
It is equally important to remove the cover in time, because during the spring warming, moisture will begin to accumulate under the covering material. Condensation is dangerous for plants, since infections and fungi quickly develop in a humid environment, and the rose can simply dry out.
Remove the cover gradually so that the flowers can acclimatize to the environment. First, lift the edges of the film or select dry materials from the shelter (spruce branches, straw, fallen leaves, etc.). It is necessary to completely remove the cover from roses in cloudy weather or in the evening so that the young shoots do not burn in the sun.
How to best prepare roses for winter
You can’t immediately take and cover a rose bush; you still need to prepare the plant for wintering.
Preparation of the rosary begins in the summer and consists of several stages:
- End of feeding. At the end of August, flowers are no longer fed with nitrogen fertilizers; starting from this period, only potassium and phosphorus mineral complexes can be applied. Such fertilizers stimulate lignification of the trunk and prepare the rose for wintering.
- They stop loosening the earth with the onset of September. Especially when September is dry and warm, the soil around the bushes cannot be loosened, because the rose perceives such actions as a signal to awaken. If you dig up the ground around a rose, young shoots will begin to grow from the roots, the buds located in the soil will wake up - this will lead to the bush freezing.
- All varieties of roses need pruning, only the degree of pruning differs. For example, climbing and park roses are trimmed just a little, and young shoots and all foliage are removed - only woody stems covered with bark should remain. The remaining varieties need to be pruned more carefully - the stems are shortened to the height of the future shelter, so that the entire bush is hidden from frost.
- Cleaning and processing rose bushes.You need to remove all the leaves, grass and other debris from under the bush, because infections, insects and rodents like to spend the winter there. To strengthen the immunity of flowers and prepare them for high humidity, it is recommended to treat roses with a solution of copper sulfate or use Bordeaux mixture for this purpose.
- Hilling up rose bushes is also an important step in preparing for shelter. This is done immediately after disinfection. You cannot take earth for hilling from the same flowerbed, because this may expose the roots of neighboring plants and the roses themselves. It is necessary to make mounds about 20 cm high, which will protect the roots of the flowers from freezing. Loose soil contains a lot of air, which will warm the root system. For many varieties, simple hilling is enough; they do not need any other shelter.
If you do this too early, the buds located below the cut will wake up and send out young shoots. Such branches will certainly freeze, even under cover.
How to cover roses for the winter
Many inexperienced gardeners do not know any other shelters other than spruce branches. In fact, There are a lot of materials and ways in which you can cover rose gardens for the winter:
- straw;
- oak leaves, in which fungal infections do not develop;
- sawdust;
- sand;
- peat;
- polycarbonate or wood;
- lutrasil or other non-woven material;
- plastic film.
Different methods of shelter are shown in the photo in the article.
Regardless of what material was chosen to protect the rose garden from frost, an important rule must be observed: there must be an air gap between the shelter and the lashes or shoots of the roses. If this does not happen, the plant will not have enough oxygen and it will “suffocate”.
How to cover roses for the winter
As mentioned above, some varieties of prickly flowers tolerate frost better, while others, on the contrary, need very careful protection for the winter.
In accordance with this, they choose shelter options for a rose garden:
- For hybrid teas and floribundas You can choose a shelter that maintains a constant temperature inside at -3 degrees. In addition, such a winter road is well ventilated, which has a beneficial effect on the condition of the shoots and roots of roses. To make such a shelter, it is necessary to construct a frame in the form of a mesh cone from thick wire. The height of the product should be approximately 60-70 cm (depending on the size of the bush). A rose bush is surrounded with this cone, then insulation (lutrasil, cardboard, film, etc.) is attached on top of the wire, which is secured with a rope. You need to stretch polyethylene over the insulation, which should protect the bush from precipitation and wind. The ends of the plastic film are fixed with earth so that they do not lift up and expose the roots.
- For climbing varieties It is more convenient to use a frame-panel shelter. Before starting work, you need to remove all remaining foliage from the climbing rose, cutting it off along with the petioles (the foliage of such varieties does not fall off on its own). The lashes are tied together and tilted in the direction where they lean during flowering. You need to spread spruce branches on the soil, which will protect the rose from rodents and frozen ground.Now the tied lashes are laid on the ground and secured with metal, wooden or plastic pins (as in the photo). You need to prepare shields made of wood or polycarbonate in advance; their length is equal to the height of the bush, and the width is approximately 80 cm. These shields are used to make a house over the rose, and support the “walls” of the shelter with metal rods. The top of the shelter should be covered with plastic film. If the soil in the flowerbed is already frozen, press the film tightly and sprinkle it with earth. When severe frosts have not yet begun, the ends of the shelter are left slightly open so that the roses do not dry out.
- If the climbing variety does not grow in rows, but is located in the center of the flowerbed, for example, using shields as cover will be inconvenient. In this case, a vertical type of winter protection is used. The lashes of roses are tied and fixed to a vertical strong support. A cone-shaped frame is woven from wire and a rose with a support is placed inside it. The frame is wrapped on top with several layers of spunbond, fiberglass or thick polyethylene, and everything is tied with twine. Be sure to leave ventilation holes that can be opened in early spring. Shown in detail in the video:
- Standard varieties It is customary to grow in tubs and large boxes. Such roses can be easily moved to the basement for the winter, thereby protecting them from frost and death. But the standard variety can also be planted directly into the ground, in which case it is necessary to cover the plant with the arrival of cold weather. An ordinary jute bag, the bottom of which needs to be cut off, will help with this. Such a bag is placed on the crown of the rose so as to cover the upper part of the bush, starting from the growth point. Then the shelter is tightly filled with straw, small spruce branches or dry leaves.The top of the jute bag is tied with twine, and the trunk of the rose is wrapped in cut burlap.
First, open the ventilation holes, when the ground has completely thawed and the temperature is consistently above zero, you can open the bush completely.
The video will tell you more about how to protect roses from frost:
If you follow all the recommendations and cover roses correctly, you can keep even the most capricious exotic varieties of these luxurious flowers in your garden.
