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Roses are not in vain called the “queen of flowers” - almost any variety of them, with good care, can win the heart of the grower during flowering. Climbing roses are able to elevate their beauty to an unattainable height. With their help, you can create magnificent vertical compositions that will simultaneously decorate the site and create a unique comfort and saving shade during the summer heat. But unfortunately, the climate in most regions of Our Country does not allow this luxurious flower to retain its decorative effect all year round. With other types of roses, there are usually not many problems with wintering – most of them can simply be cut short with the onset of cold weather, and then shelter for the winter will not be difficult at all.
Therefore, sheltering climbing roses for the winter is a whole science, neglecting the rules of which can lead to a decrease in decorativeness, and even to the complete death of a rose bush.
Pre-winter preparation
Experienced flower growers have no doubt that no matter what the winter will be (frosty, little snow, with a lot of thaws), strong, healthy, hardened and well-ripened rose bushes will endure any adverse conditions best of all. But if the question arises of whether to cover climbing roses or not, then only in the very south of Our Country can they be allowed to winter without shelter. In all other regions, one cannot do without special procedures for protecting rose bushes for the winter.
Help ripen shoots
Usually flower growers properly and well care for their pets during their rapid flowering and try to extend the care of the bushes until the very frost. This is where the first danger lies in wait for beginners in floriculture. Since the beginning of August, when the roses are in full bloom, they completely stop feeding the bushes with fertilizers that contain nitrogen.
This is done in order to stop the development of new shoots, which will no longer have time to ripen well by winter, and in any case they will have to be cut off. But rose bushes during this period are vital for feeding the following composition:
- 25 g superphosphate;
- 10 g of potassium sulfate;
- 2,5 g of boric acid.
Nutrients are dissolved in 10 liters of water and rose bushes are watered with the resulting solution. This amount should be enough for about 4-5 square meters. meters of landings.
A month later, it is necessary to repeat feeding, using already 16 grams of potassium monophosphate per 10 liters of water.
It is only necessary to strictly ensure that nitrogen is not included in the composition of fertilizers. It is even more effective to dilute the nutrient solution three times and spray rose bushes with the resulting mixture.
Another important trick on how to properly prepare climbing roses for wintering is the complete cessation of the formation and pruning of plants, starting from the end of August. It is also advisable not to loosen, and even more so not to dig up the soil between the bushes, so as not to bring to life the dormant buds of roses located at ground level.
Shelter for the winter
Quite often, beginners rush to cover the climbing rose early and believe that even small frosts can greatly damage their pets. In fact, rose bushes of old varieties are quite frost-resistant and can withstand even up to -10 ° C and below.
But small frosts down to -3 ° -5 ° С, as a rule, are not terrible for roses, but only harden the plants and prepare them for the winter period. Therefore, it is not worth rushing to shelter rose bushes. It is advisable to start building shelters and laying bushes no earlier than early to mid-October. Although the timing may vary for different regions of Our Country, and you need to focus on the onset of steadily cold weather with an average daily temperature below -5 ° C.
But other preparatory work, which will be discussed below, is better to start from mid-September or even earlier, when the first frosts begin.
Debris cleaning and immunity strengthening
Especially carefully in September, it is necessary to free all the space under each rose bush from weeds and all kinds of plant debris: fallen leaves, flowers, dry grass. It is in such places that spores of various fungal diseases and pest larvae prefer to hide.
To increase the resistance of rose bushes to diseases caused by high humidity, it is advisable to spray the bushes with some kind of fungicide. The most common remedies are iron sulphate or Bordeaux mixture.
After the first treatment with fungicides, climbing roses begin to be removed from the supports and bent down to the ground. So that this procedure is not too painful for both roses and the grower (due to thorns), in the spring, when they are tied up, it must be provided for and the lashes can be removed easily. If the bush of climbing roses is very old and large, then you need to remove the lashes very gradually, not at once, but even in this case it is sometimes impossible to do this. In such a situation, it is possible to warm the lashes of roses with the help of several layers of dense non-woven material or coarse fabric, such as burlap.
Bending down roses after being released from the supports is demonstrated in detail in the following video:
Pruning and hilling
Pruning is a very important part of preparing rose bushes for wintering. But climbing roses have several important features of its implementation.
- Firstly, only the youngest unripened green shoots are cut off from the top of the bush when the lashes are removed from the supports.
- Secondly, all flowers and buds on the bush must be cut off just before the shelter.
- Thirdly, they wait for the period of the onset of small frosts, which should contribute to the fall of the leaves. If the leaves of the roses have not fallen, then they must be cut off, especially in the lower part of the bush, along with cuttings and small twigs. They become a habitat for various pathogens and pests.
Sometimes the removal of leaves turns into a difficult operation, due to the abundance of shoots with thorns. Then gardeners use special preparations for spraying leaves – it is better to use those that belong to the sulfur group.
If we talk about how to cover climbing roses, then in any case you need to start with hilling the root collar. This technique is necessary for roses of any variety and allows even under the most adverse weather conditions in winter to save the life of a rose bush.
It is best to use ordinary soil from row spacing for hilling. It is only necessary that it be completely dry, so it is better to prepare it in advance and store it somewhere under a canopy. For one young rose bush, one bucket of earth is enough, old powerful plants will need 2-3 buckets, which are poured directly into the center of the bush in the form of a cone. Instead of earth, dry sand can also be used, but it is advisable not to use peat, humus or sawdust, as they absorb moisture too well. On average, 20-30 cm of hilling height is enough for one rose bush.
Covers for climbing roses
When looking for an answer to the question: “How to cover climbing roses for the winter?” you first need to understand how your bushes are located. If they are located in one line, then it is optimal to choose a shield method of shelter. In the case of a group arrangement, it is possible to build a frame over the entire rose garden. If the rose bushes are located separately, then here you need to focus on the climatic conditions of your region. If your winters are moderately frosty and there is a lot of snow, then high hilling with spruce branches on top will be enough. Otherwise, it is desirable to build at least a small, but a frame with an air gap.
Shields for roses
Cut off and removed from the supports, the rose bush is neatly tied in a bundle and bent as far as possible to the ground, on which the spruce branches are first placed. The branches of the lashes must be pinned to the ground in several places with hard wire. Now you need to find or build from improvised materials two wooden shields, about 80 cm wide and equal to the length of the pink row. Shields are placed along the bushes with roses like a house and are reinforced with pegs from the outside.
From above, the shields are covered with a piece of polyethylene so that it is able to close the shelter from both ends. The film is covered with earth and fixed on the shields with planks. Until severe frosts come (below -10 ° C), the film on the ends can be kept ajar, but with the onset of cold weather, the ends must also be carefully sealed. In the spring, during thaws, the film on the ends can be slightly opened to prevent the roses from drying out.
Frame shelters
In all other cases of the location of rose bushes, except for the ordinary, home-made frames are used, which can be made from both wire and wooden slats.
Branches of rose bushes are fixed on additional supports inside the shelter with a rope so that they do not come into contact with the frame. In these cases, fiberglass fabric will be the best covering for the frame – it does not allow moisture to pass through, but is well ventilated. In its absence, you can use a dense non-woven material, combining it in the upper part with polyethylene to protect against precipitation.
Any shelter for the winter for roses is not removed immediately, but gradually opening its individual parts for ventilation. It is advisable to dismantle shelters in cloudy weather to minimize sunburn.
Conclusion
Of course, there is plenty of trouble with wintering climbing roses, but true connoisseurs of beauty are not afraid of difficulties and therefore are rewarded for their labors with a delightful view and wonderful aroma of roses in the warm season.
