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Many people believe that roses are too finicky and will not grow in cold climates. However, many gardeners manage to grow beautiful bushes even in the conditions of Siberia and the Urals. These plants feel calm in cold weather, but roses need to be covered for the winter. This is the only way they can survive the harsh winters. In this article we will discuss an issue that worries many residents of cold regions. Below you will learn how to cover roses for the winter in the Urals.
Choosing a variety and site for growing roses
To select the ideal bushes, it is necessary to take into account the climate. In the Urals, spring is usually late, the summer period is very short, and in winter there are severe frosts and cold winds. Temperatures can often drop to -40°C. Not every variety can withstand such conditions. Therefore, you should choose special zoned varieties that are adapted to cold climates. Such bushes are grown in nurseries in the Urals. Canadian varieties of roses are also suitable; they are no less resistant to cold climates.
Pay attention to grafted bushes. They are stronger and also boast good immunity. Thanks to this, they are not afraid of many diseases, and winter frosts are tolerated much easier compared to self-rooted roses.
Open areas are not suitable for growing roses in the Urals. In such conditions, plants will be constantly exposed to cold winds. Bushes can be placed near houses, gazebos and spreading bushes. In addition, roses do not like stagnant moisture. Taking this into account, you should choose places on a slight hill. Elevated areas warm up most quickly in early spring, so roses can wake up faster. Moisture often accumulates in the lowlands, which is why various fungi and rot often appear.
How to cover roses correctly
First of all, you need to familiarize yourself with the general rules for covering roses. They apply to all regions:
- It is not recommended to cover roses too early. A little hardening will only benefit them. You can begin building a shelter after the air temperature drops below -5 °C;
- At the end of summer, they stop fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. They promote the growth of young shoots, but during preparation for winter this is undesirable;
- If you prune the bushes heavily at the end of August, late shoots will begin to form on them. Often they do not have time to ripen before the cold weather;
- In order for the shoots to ripen, you need to stop watering the roses in the autumn.
Roses need to be prepared for wintering in the summer. From the second half of July, gardeners begin to more carefully care for the bushes. Feeding plays a very important role. Remember that nitrogen-based fertilizers can only be applied until the last weeks of July.At the end of summer, it is recommended to use only fertilizers that contain potassium and phosphorus. They contribute to the process of lignification of stems.
Preparing roses for winter
Preparation of bushes occurs in several stages. At the end of summer, the bushes should be cleaned. To do this, all lower leaves are removed and burned. Under no circumstances should leaves be left under the bush. This can cause the spread of rot and other diseases. The top leaves should not be trimmed; roses need them for the process of photosynthesis.
Then the lower part of each bush should be sprayed with a special Bordeaux mixture. In this case, only the lower shoots are sprayed, since they are the ones that will go under cover for the winter. The stems near the root system must be sprinkled with a layer (10 or 15 cm) of substrate. This can be leaf humus or peat, to which you can add sand, sawdust, and shavings.
Later it will be necessary to remove the remaining leaves and prune the bushes. No need to trim just climbing varieties of roses All other bushes are trimmed without sparing. Only 50 cm in height should be left. Usually pruning is carried out in October. Only after this can you proceed directly to covering the roses.
Ways to cover roses in the Urals
There are many ways to cover roses in a given area. Ideally, just sprinkle the bushes with snow. Such a snowdrift holds heat well and protects from winds. However, since snow falls only in early December, this method is practically not practiced. By this time, the temperature will rapidly drop and the plants may simply freeze.
More often, roses are covered with some kind of dry material, and then everything is covered with a waterproof film. But even in this case, much depends on the specific variety. For example, climbing and hybrid tea roses are covered differently. If the bush spreads out in different directions, you will have to cover each one separately.
At first, the roses are covered with dry cardboard boxes or wooden boards. After this, the structure can be covered with plastic film. In this form, roses are not afraid of frost, wind, or moisture. The edges of the film should be pressed with bricks or any other method, the main thing is that no moisture gets inside.
Many gardeners practice the following method:
- The bush is wrapped in dry material in several layers.
- Then they wrap it well and tie it with twine.
- After this, you need to put a bag on the bush, for example, for garbage.
- In this form, the roses are laid on the ground.
- When the first snow falls, you will need to shovel it onto the bush.
- In the spring, after the snow melts, the plastic bag is removed, and the bush along with the covering material is left to dry.
- The material is removed only after warm, stable weather arrives.
If you have a large rose garden and the bushes grow in one row, you can build a shelter for them from arcs. Both metal and plastic arcs are suitable for this. They are installed in such a way that it turns out to be a small greenhouse. The plants are covered from above with dry material, as in the previous case, and then with film.
In this way, individual bushes can also be covered. To do this, the arcs need to be placed crosswise.Before this, the plant is shortened to fit the height of the arc. Then everything happens according to the method described above. Lutraxil or spunbond can be used as a covering material.
How to cover climbing roses
Climbing varieties are not as easy to cover as regular bush roses. In this case, you will have to work a little more. We all start by preparing the roses. They need to be removed from their supports and all old and damaged stems trimmed. Young shoots are not pruned, as buds may form on them next year.
Bush varieties need to be pruned completely, leaving only the lower parts of the shoots, but climbing varieties are pruned only to form a bush and remove damaged shoots. It can be difficult to bend the bush to the ground right away. Often gardeners have to carry out this procedure in several stages. This must be done carefully so as not to break the young shoots.
It is very important that the bush is not completely pressed to the ground; there should be some space for air. Then you can treat the plants with iron sulfate. This will protect the plants from many diseases. When frost sets in, the bushes are covered with 2 layers of Lutraxil-60.
Closer to spring, it will be necessary to remove snow from the bushes. At this time it becomes wet and heavy. Under such pressure the plant may break. In addition, in the spring it will begin to melt and may seep through the shelter. In warm weather, you can open the shelter slightly so that the plants slowly get used to temperature changes.
Conclusion
Properly covered plants will withstand any frost, and next year they will delight you with their flowering again.The detailed instructions outlined in this article will help you carry out the procedure quickly and efficiently.
