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The fact that the rose is the queen of flowers has been known since time immemorial. No wonder the Egyptian queens took baths with rose petals, and oils based on them were so expensive that their price was worth its weight in gold. Therefore, they grew up exclusively at the royal court. Now roses grow in almost every garden. And every housewife can grow them both for beauty and for other purposes. For whatever purpose flowers are grown, it is important to know what kind of care for roses in autumn is necessary so that in summer they bloom magnificently and please the eye.
What activities are needed for roses in the autumn
Despite the fact that with the onset of autumn, roses still bloom profusely, it’s too early to rest. Don’t forget your favorite colors. During this period, it is important to provide plants with proper care. After all, high-quality autumn work in the garden is a guarantee of beautifully flowering rose bushes. Given that the rose is a very delicate and fastidious flower, it is important to properly help them prepare for the coming cold weather. For experienced flower growers, preparing roses for winter is not such a difficult process, but beginners need to figure out how, when and what to do in order to preserve and increase the extraordinary beauty of flower beds.
All work on caring for roses in the fall is carried out in several stages:
- Autumn dressing of flowers;
- Watering the rose garden as needed;
- Timely pruning;
- Hilling, mulching rose bushes;
- Shelter bushes for the winter.
Roses are very critical to the slightest deviations and immediately react to poor quality or out of time work done. And this affects not only the flowering of rose bushes. They become more susceptible to diseases, slowly increase their green mass in spring and quickly lose varietal characteristics.
Features of the growing season of roses
The fact that the rose is the closest relative of the wild rose does not give a reason to forget about them until spring. Even frost-resistant plant varieties need timely care due to some features of the vegetative processes. Moreover, caring for roses with the onset of autumn is not at all difficult. It is important to follow the deadlines and recommendations of experienced gardeners.
Thanks to the intricate work of breeders, we have the opportunity to enjoy bright colors and delicate aromas every year. But this work also has a downside: most varietal flowers are completely incapable of hibernating with the onset of frost. When the ambient temperature drops below 0˚С, sap flow in the stems stops. But as soon as the temperature column rises above this mark, the roses immediately wake up. Sap flow is restored. With a sharp decrease in temperature, the juice freezes almost instantly. As you know from the course of physics, when a liquid freezes, it increases in volume. The same thing happens in the stems and roots of rose bushes. Frozen juice, turning into ice with a sharp drop in temperature, breaks the stem from the inside. Pathogenic microorganisms easily penetrate into the formed microcracks, which are most often the main cause of disease and decay of rose bushes.
When to start autumn rose care
It is necessary to start preparatory work for caring for roses in the second half of August – early September.
In the Northern regions and in the Siberian region, they begin to prepare rose bushes for winter in the second or third decade of August. In the central regions, the favorable period for caring for roses begins in September, in the second decade. But in the south of Our Country, they begin to prepare them for winter no earlier than the second half of September.
In addition to regional affiliation, it is important to pay attention to the surrounding nature. After all, it is she who will tell you the optimal time when you need to provide roses with proper care. As soon as the trees were covered with gold and crimson – it’s time to get to work. It is during this period that active sap flow ceases in most shrubs and trees. Roses also need to be prepared for winter at this moment.
Termination of the growing season of roses in the fall
Important in preparing roses for winter is to slow down the vegetative processes that occur in the stems and leaves. To do this, experienced gardeners are advised not to loosen the soil under the bushes and monitor the soil moisture, preventing the growth of new shoots and the formation of buds. At the same time, cut flowers with long stems for bouquets are stopped.
A large number of buds on the bushes significantly weakens the roots and does not allow them to fully accumulate useful substances before the onset of cold weather. In order to help plants fully prepare for winter, experienced gardeners advise bending the stem at the base of the bud. An unblown flower stops its development and does not “pull out” excess nutrients.
You should not cut the buds, as in this case you will provoke the active formation and growth of side shoots from the kidneys.
Feeding roses in autumn
Another way to slow down the vegetative processes in the autumn is to stop feeding rose bushes with nitrogen fertilizers in mid-August. After all, they stimulate the active growth of the aerial parts of plants. And during this period, the bushes vitally need top dressing that nourishes and strengthens the root system.
In the third decade of August, it is worth making a primary top dressing based on superphosphate and potassium. To do this, prepare the solution as follows:
- 2,5 g of boric acid;
- 25 g of superphosphate;
- 10 g of potassium sulfate.
Mix the fertilizer well in 10 liters of water at room temperature. The resulting solution should be enough to feed the rose garden with an area of 4-5 m².
Secondary top dressing should be applied no earlier than 2-3 weeks after the first. It is also designed to nourish and strengthen the roots. In this case, gardeners recommend the following composition:
- 16 g of potassium monophosphate;
- 15 g of superphosphate.
dilute in 10 liters of water.
It is important to remember that both primary and secondary feeding should be done in the absence of precipitation. The ground under the rose bushes should be dry. Then the roots will absorb the maximum amount of nutrients.
With heavy rainfall, it is best to use granular top dressing based on superphosphates and potassium. In this case, a handful of fertilizer is scattered around the bush at a distance of up to 15-20 cm from the base and the soil is gently loosened so that the granules are evenly mixed with the ground. With the dry feeding method, the roots will receive all the necessary substances evenly and dosed.
How, when and how to feed roses in the fall, an experienced rose specialist will tell you in the following video clip:
Watering roses in autumn
With the onset of the first autumn month, it is important to pay attention to the condition of the soil under the rose bushes. It is important to avoid waterlogging during this period. Excessive watering of roses will cause the active growth of new shoots, which will not have time to become woody in such a short period and will inevitably die at the first frost.
Moreover, with excessive soil moisture, rose bushes begin to actively develop surface roots. They are too close to the ground. And in severe frosts, they, unfortunately, suffer the most.
To prevent this from happening, monitor precipitation and soil moisture. If autumn is rife with rain and there is a problem of oversaturation of rose bushes with moisture, flower beds should be protected. Metal arcs, on which a transparent polyethylene film is stretched, will help you with this.
With insufficient precipitation, the rose garden should be watered 1-2 times a week.
Hilling rose bushes
Hilling roses at the base of the bushes is necessary when the temperature drops below -3˚C at night. Lower temperatures are detrimental to flowers.
- Before proceeding to this stage of rose care, you need to cut off the leaves at the base of the bushes. So, you will prevent them from rotting and rotting.
- Protect your flowers from possible infection and microorganisms. To do this, the stems of roses must be painted with a special garden paint. The height of staining should be equal to the height of the subsequent hilling of rose bushes. In the absence of a garden solution for coloring, it can be replaced with a water-based emulsion with the addition of copper oxychloride. It also perfectly protects roses from diseases.
- Roses should be planted in dry, sunny weather. It is desirable that the soil under the bushes is also dry or slightly moist. It is enough for the bases of low-growing varieties of roses to create a low protection, no more than 10-15 cm in height. But rose bushes of tall varieties need higher protection. The earth embankment should be at least 35-40 cm in height.
Why such difference? In low-growing varieties of roses, the stems are thicker and lignified. But in tall varieties, on the contrary, they are more flexible and thin.
Pruning stems and shoots
The next step in the systematic care of roses in the fall is their timely pruning. Pruned bushes every fall. It doesn’t matter how old your flowers are. Pruning is required for both perennials and young, recently planted seedlings.
- First of all, it is necessary to cut off all the leaves and unripe, weak and diseased shoots from the stems. They will inevitably freeze when frost sets in. Buds, flowers and seed pods are also subject to pruning.
- Next, you should properly trim the extra stems. After carefully examining the bush, select from 4 to 6 of the strongest and most powerful shoots. They should be left. But the rest need to be cut. Cut the stems should be at a height of 5-6 cm from the ground. Do not feel sorry for unnecessary trunks. In the spring they will only interfere with each other.
- The remaining stems of roses also need to be cut. At this stage, it is important to pay attention to which part of the stem contains the largest number of buds. If they are more located at the top of the stems, then a long pruning of roses is appropriate. In this case, the shoots are almost not pruned, removing only the upper part. Provided that the buds are evenly distributed over the entire surface of the shoots, either short or medium pruning is used, which depends on the variety and type of roses.
All cut leaves, branches and stems must be immediately removed from the flower garden. It is better to burn them to prevent the spread of fungal and putrefactive diseases of healthy rose bushes.
You will learn the basic rules for pruning roses in the fall from the video:
Shelter for the winter of rose bushes
From mid-October, the most crucial stage begins – shelter. The complexity and method of shelter very much depends on the variety of flowers, as well as the region of growth.
For example, park varieties with excellent frost resistance and in the Siberian regions will have enough hilling with soil with further mulching.
For delicate and fastidious varieties, protection should be more substantial. Before shelter, the bushes are pre-mulched. A layer of spruce branches is laid on top of the mulch layer, which will protect the roses not only from the cold, but also from the destructive invasion of hungry rodents. Any material with water-repellent or waterproof properties must be laid on the spruce branches: lutrasil, roofing felt, film. During autumn rains and spring thaws, it will protect rose bushes from moisture.
Recently, another method for sheltering roses in the fall has become widespread – wrapping the bushes with a net, followed by filling the internal space with mulching material. A cover made of dense material is put on top of the resulting cylinder: burlap, film or lutrasil.
All the above work on caring for roses in the fall should be carried out exclusively on a warm, sunny day. The bushes should be dry and the soil underneath slightly damp. Therefore, keep an eye on the weather conditions and as soon as favorable days have turned out – do not delay, urgently take care of your favorite flowers.
The author of the video story will tell you how to cover roses for the winter:
Wine is infused on them, and rose petal jam has an excellent taste and delicate aroma.
Conclusion
The procedure for caring for roses in the autumn period resembles a special mysterious ceremony. Therefore, flower growers who have been breeding roses for a long time do not rush and carry out all work with great care. But when the first buds with a heady aroma begin to bloom on the bushes, even the smallest flower garden turns into a paradise where you can relax, enjoy the beauty of bright flowers and have a lot of fun.