The growing season for many plants is nearing its end. For gardeners, the issue of preparing and protecting flowering perennial plants from winter cold becomes urgent, especially rose bushes, which bloom profusely in summer but do not tolerate winter well. It is important how the shelter is organized, since it determines whether the plant will survive the coming winter and how abundant the roses will bloom.
Preparing bush roses for winter
The task of gardeners is not only to make a shelter for roses, but also to prepare the plants for the coming winter. It is necessary to create such conditions so that bush roses smoothly complete the growing season and prepare for the hibernation period.
First of all, they change the composition fertilizer for roses: exclude nitrogen, focus on phosphorus and potassium. If you leave roses with a summer composition of fertilizers, where nitrogen comes first, then the plants will continue to bloom and grow shoots, i.e. their growing season will continue. In the fall, this is no longer required, since young shoots of roses only waste the plant’s strength, they do not have time to ripen and, most likely, will be destroyed by frost. Moreover, affected shoots become a potential threat to the entire rose bush.
All summer, the bush roses bloomed luxuriantly and actively consumed minerals. Feeding plants in the fall is a must. It is important to replenish the balance of minerals in roses.Potassium is especially important, as it strengthens plant cell tissue and improves immunity. Thereby reducing the susceptibility of bush roses to diseases and climate change. Plants more easily tolerate not only winter cold, but also mid-winter thaws and spring return frosts.
The lack of potassium can be compensated for by adding potassium sulfate, potassium magnesium, potassium nitrate, and kalimag.
Another equally important element in the nutrition of roses is phosphorus. It participates in all metabolic processes of plants, promotes the growth of the root system, due to which they absorb more microelements. The ripening of shoots is accelerated; once they become lignified, they will not be damaged by frost. Phosphorus is contained in fertilizers such as superphosphate and double superphosphate, ammophosphate.
It is mandatory to fertilize roses before sheltering twice in the autumn: at the end of August - beginning of September and at the end of September - beginning of November. Feeding options:
- Superphosphate and potassium monophosphate, 15 g each, are dissolved in a 10-liter bucket of water;
- Potassium sulfate (10 g), superphosphate (25 g), boric acid (2.5 g) are dissolved in 10 liters of water.
Gardeners also use ready-made complex fertilizers “Autumn” and “Osennee” according to the instructions. You can feed bush roses with wood ash, 1 tbsp. they bring it under the bush and water it with water, or prepare an ash solution and water the plants with it.
And one more example of useful fertilizers for roses from folk recipes: the use of banana skins. They are actually rich in phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium, and are in no way inferior to purchased mineral fertilizers. Before use, bananas should be washed to remove the wax that is used to treat the fruit for better storage.The easiest way: grind a banana peel and bury it near the bushes, without burying it too deep.
Another way: grind the skin with a blender, fill the mixture with water and water the bush roses. Banana peels can be prepared in advance by freezing or drying. Dried skins are brewed with boiling water, infused and watered over the plants.
The next thing that needs to be done in the autumn care of bush roses, in contrast to summer care, is to reduce watering of the plants, and then stop it altogether, depending on weather conditions in mid-September. If the autumn is very dry, then the plants are watered once a week, using 2 times less water. This action also leads to the end of the rose growing season. Young shoots and surface roots of the plant will not develop.
Stop cutting flowers with long stems. It is best to pinch rose shoots at the growing point. Shortly before covering the bush, sanitary pruning of roses is carried out, removing all leaves, buds, fruits, flowers, weak and immature shoots of the plant.
Next, autumn pruning of plants is carried out. Select the strongest shoots from 3 to 5 pieces, the rest are completely cut out. The remaining ones are shortened by half. Usually, for bush roses, mid-pruning is done when 7 buds remain on the shoot. Secrets of correct pruning of roses:
- Pruning of bushes is done in dry, clear weather;
- To remove thick plant stems, use a garden hacksaw, and for thin stems, use pruning shears;
- The cut is made at an angle so that moisture does not stagnate;
- A healthy rose shoot, capable of surviving winter, has a light core when cut;
- The cut is made above the outer bud at a height of 5 mm so that the future shoot does not grow inside the rose bush.
All plant debris remaining after pruning roses is collected and disposed of.
After pruning, the plants are treated before covering for preventive purposes against diseases and rot with copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture, and iron sulfate.
After such treatment, the root zone of the plants is covered with a high layer of mulch of 30-40 cm from peat and soil. This hilling is the simplest way to cover bush roses.
Watch a video on how to cover bush roses:
How to cover bush roses for the winter
However, simple hilling not enough to keep bush roses intact. Especially in the middle zone, where frosts can be quite severe, although thaws are not excluded. The point of the shelter is to protect the flowers not only from sub-zero temperatures, but also, to a much greater extent, from moisture, in the presence of which diseases develop.
The most commonly used method is the air-dry method of covering plants. The covering material does not allow moisture to penetrate, and due to the presence of an air gap in the shelter, a comfortable microclimate for roses is maintained.
For bush roses that grow several in a row, it is more convenient to organize shelter using arcs. Arcs can be used in the same way as when organizing a greenhouse. To add rigidity to the structure, the upper part is reinforced with a narrow board or slats. The measure is needed to ensure that the arcs in the shelter do not bend under the weight of the snow. Many gardeners also strengthen the arches on the sides. Before inserting the arches, the plants are hilled up and additionally covered with spruce branches.
Covering material is pulled over the installed arcs. It is best to use geotextiles, spunbond, lutrasil in 2-3 layers. The covering material is secured with paper clips, clothespins or special plastic clips.Bricks or any available heavy materials and objects (pieces of slate, scraps of boards, pipes, stones) are placed on the sides of the shelter.
Another shelter option is using boards or plywood nailed together like a shield. They are covered with covering material in several layers, installed at an angle to each other, creating a shelter - a hut. At positive temperatures at the end of autumn, the ends of the shelter are left open, but as soon as a stable sub-zero temperature is established, the ends are reliably covered.
The higher and longer the shelter, the larger the volume of air will act as an air gap. In large shelters, the temperature that is comfortable for plants will remain longer; they will not be threatened by either thaws or severe frosts.
For free-standing rose bushes, you can make shelters from scrap materials. If the bush is small, then you can cover it on top with a plastic or wooden box, after hilling the plant and covering it with spruce branches or dry fallen leaves.
Another method of covering: slats or metal pins are stuck around the circumference of the roses, which will hold the base: cardboard, mesh - chain-link or mesh for reinforcement. This creates a protective cover around the bush rose. Insulation is placed inside. They can be branches of coniferous trees, foliage, straw. The top of the shelter is covered with covering material.
The question of when to cover bush roses is quite relevant for gardeners. Weather conditions differ in different regions, and sometimes nature presents unexpected climatic surprises.Therefore, it is impossible to give exact calendar dates. The best time to cover bush roses is when the temperature is -3°C-7°C. Night temperatures can be below -7°C-10°C.
The main thing is that daytime temperatures are constant and do not rise above -3°C. In central Russia, when such weather sets in, it is approximately the end of October - beginning of November. But here, too, the usual course of things can be disrupted, and the timing of covering roses shifts in one direction or another. Gardeners need to be careful and monitor the thermometer readings.
Conclusion
To preserve bush roses in winter, a lot of effort should be made. It is necessary to prepare the plants by properly fertilizing them, reducing watering, and pruning. Which will lead the flowers to the end of the growing season. Another important stage is organizing the shelter and observing temperature limits. Following recommendations and agrotechnical practices will allow you to preserve wonderful plants in any winter cold without loss.
