Caring for roses in the garden is pleasant and difficult at the same time. It is pleasant because the blossoming buds give unspeakable joy. And it is difficult due to the fact that in the process of selection, roses have lost the ability to plunge into a state of rest with the onset of cold weather and are often greeted with their magnificent color. The gardener’s task is to take care of them, which is why the fall preparation for wintering is an important part of caring for roses, on which it depends whether they will retain their vitality until spring.
How to keep roses in winter
Your main task with the approach of autumn is to slow down the growing season. Already in August, change the feeding – instead of nitrogen fertilizers that stimulate growth, add phosphate-potassium. For each bush, measure 5-10 g of potassium sulfate and superphosphate and scatter under the plant, shallowly embedded in the ground. With the onset of September, stop pruning, loosening the soil and digging up the earth between the bushes. As a result, the growth of shoots will stop. Pinch those that continue to grow actively, before frost they still do not have time to lignify and, weak, will inevitably die in winter.
Abundant flowering weakens the plant due to the significant consumption of nutrients. To prevent this, bend the bud at the very base, as a result, growth will stop, the lateral buds do not wake up
Water your roses very sparingly from late August (ideally only in dry weather). In a rainy fall, stretch plastic wrap over the bushes to reduce moisture intake. For the same purpose, dig in small grooves to drain the water. Check plants for parasites such as sawflies, aphids, leaf rollers, and others. They visibly weaken the rose bushes. If you find pests, apply the insecticide according to the instructions.
Garden roses have a peculiarity – with the onset of frost, their growing season stops, but at the first warming, at a temperature slightly above zero, the queen of flowers wakes up, sap flow is restored, and she prepares for a new flowering. What happens next: frosts return, under the influence of freezing temperatures, the juices in the plant freeze, the ice formed in their place tears the tissues, and dangerous microorganisms quickly penetrate into the cracks that are, in fact, open wounds, which in the future cause the death of plants. In the meantime, infection can be avoided by allowing the juices to dry quickly and the shoots to heal. Or prevent juices from freezing altogether by starting timely preparation for wintering. In any case, in the fall, you should worry about building a dry shelter for roses that can provide them with minimal temperature fluctuations.
2 types of shelters have become widespread among gardeners: – stage-by-stage; – air-dry.
Start a phased cover with the preparation of the bush. Remove the leaves from it by the end of October. Treat the bottom of the plant and the soil around it with iron sulfate (3% solution). Sprinkle the base of the bush with river sand. This will protect the rose from sudden first frosts. At this time, it is not necessary to cover it, and here is why: at a temperature slightly above zero degrees, the growth of the bush stops, and the storage of nutrients in the tissues of the plant occurs, which is extremely important for the future awakening in the spring. The process of such natural hardening takes place only in the light, which is why roses are left open for a long time.
With the onset of November, when the air temperature drops to minus 4-8 ° C, the next stage of hardening occurs – the shoots lose a significant part of the water in it, and the starch stored in advance breaks down into sugars, and this protects the plant cells from freezing. At this stage, the light is no longer needed, so you can safely complete the shelter. To do this, remove the remaining leaves from the bushes and cut them, leaving the stems 40-45 cm high. Treat them with a pesticide solution (for example, nitrophene) and cover them with insulating material.
Experienced gardeners say that the best material is peat, because it has a high level of moisture holding capacity. It is capable of freezing quickly and thawing slowly, which provides a relatively constant temperature under cover
So that the shelter (peat, shavings, dry foliage, etc.) is not blown away by the winds, you can put wooden shields or spruce branches on top, which, in turn, will be an additional protection of the bushes from mice.
How to prepare roses for wintering
The air-dry shelter is a frame with a height of about 0,5 m. It can be built from fittings, pipes, wooden beams and other material. The main condition is the strength of the structure, it must withstand strong gusts of wind and the weight of the snow cover. As in the case of a phased shelter, before the first frost, take leaves from the bottom of the bushes, treat the plants with iron sulfate and spud them. It is not necessary to prune, but tie the shoots and bend them to the ground, while they have not yet lost their flexibility due to frost. Cut non-bending stiff shoots to the desired height (40-45 cm). With the onset of frost, free the bushes from the remaining leaves and all unripe shoots, because you won’t be able to save them anyway.
Cover the frames with roofing material, leaving the ends open. When there is constant frost, close them too. Put a plastic wrap on the roofing felt, carefully fastening along the edges with clothespins or ropes to prevent moisture from entering.
An air-dry frame shelter is not suitable for wet areas (wetlands or shallow groundwater). Condensation will collect under it, which can lead to damping out of rose bushes.
Attention! Do not prune climbing roses. Remove them from the supports, wrap the leaves and treat with a fungicide. Then lay the lashes on roofing felt and cover with river sand. With the establishment of real frosts, put another sheet of roofing material on top and secure it so that it does not turn over by the wind.