Shelter of roses for the winter

Contents

When to cover roses for the winter
When to apply the last fertilizer
What to do with roses before shelter
Do I need to prune roses before shelter?
How to properly cover roses for the winter
Popular questions and answers

Varietal roses, as you know, are heat-loving plants, so they need to be covered in winter. But how and when? There is a lot of controversy and a huge number of options on this topic. And which one to choose?

When to cover roses for the winter

In books, they usually advise: “The roses must be finally covered after the onset of stable negative temperatures, when the top layer of soil freezes.” And go guess, are the temperatures already stable or will there still be warming? Maybe delay? What about severe frosts? Therefore, do not rely on a thermometer.

But what really needs to be considered is precipitation. It is undesirable to cover roses after rains, in a humid environment there is a high risk of infection with various diseases. Wait for dry weather.

For residents of central Our Country and the Moscow region

Everything is very simple: roses must be covered in late October – early November. This applies to the most reliable method, which is discussed below. Roses calmly withstand a short-term drop in temperature to -15 ° C, and at this time there are no such frosts in the middle lane, so nothing bad will happen to them. And the thaw will not be a hindrance either.

For residents of the Urals and Siberia

Here you can focus on the temperature – you need to have time before it gets cold to -15 ° C. And, perhaps it does not make sense to wait until the end of October – if frosts begin, then it’s time. It is these recommendations that gardeners should follow if the question arises of how and when to cover roses for the winter.

For residents of the southern regions

If your region does not get colder than -15 ° C in winter, roses do not need shelter.

When to apply the last fertilizer

The better you feed your roses, the better they overwinter – weakened plants find it difficult to survive in harsh conditions. But it is important to stop in time!

The last top dressing with organic matter (compost or humus) should be done in early August. If later, new shoots will begin to grow, which will not have time to mature before the end of the season and will definitely not overwinter. But at the same time, they will take away the strength of the plant. By the way, it is often advised to apply nitrogen fertilizers no later than July 15, but again this depends on the region. In the middle lane, a protracted warm autumn often happens, so the beginning of August is the best time.

Feed the roses with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers 2 weeks after adding organic matter. And a week later – potassium sulfate.

In early September, roses are given the last subcortex – potassium magnesia. That’s all.

Together with the last top dressing, the last watering is done.

What to do with roses before shelter

It would be too easy – to come to the dacha, quickly cover the bushes and relax. Roses are capricious plants, they need to be given maximum attention. And they need to be prepared for shelter.

Rip off the leaves. This is important, because during thaws (they happen even in winter), the leaves will begin to rot and instantly become a breeding ground for diseases.

Leaves begin to be cut off at the end of October. Better in two doses – first at the bottom of the bushes, a week later – at the top. So plants experience less stress. If this is not possible, you can remove all the leaves in one go.

And, by the way, it is better to cut them with scissors – so the plants are less injured. But this is long and tedious, so you can just cut them off. But carefully so that there are no bullies on the shoots.

Treat for diseases. Before sheltering, roses (without leaves) must be treated with a solution of ferrous sulfate (3%) or Maxim (1) – this treatment will protect the bushes from fungal diseases.

Bend to the ground. Many summer residents simply prune their roses before shelter so as not to suffer from bending branches. But experienced rose growers do not advise doing this – experience shows that cut bushes hibernate worse. So the correct option is to bend down.

It is necessary to bend the shoots before the onset of frost – in cold weather they do not bend well and break. It is better to start at the end of September (2), gradually so that the shoots do not break and gradually get used to a horizontal position. The technology is simple: the shoots are tied into small bundles with a synthetic rope (so that they do not rot in winter) and pinned to the ground with metal staples: at first slightly, then they are stuck a little deeper, after a few days even deeper, and so on until the bunch of branches is at the very earth.

In the place where the shoots will come into contact with the bracket, it is better to wrap the bundle with nylon tights or place pieces of foam plastic so that the wire does not injure the shoots. And under the shoot itself, it is advisable to put pine or spruce branches so that the stems do not lie on wet ground.

The only option when roses still need to be cut before shelter are varieties with powerful thick shoots that do not want to bend even in several steps. At any attempt to pin them to the ground, they break. So only cropping will help here. At the same time, experienced rose growers do not cut off “on a stump”, but leave about 40 cm from the ground.

Do I need to prune roses before shelter?

So do many lovers of roses. But again, practice shows that this is not the best option: no matter how short the shoots are cut, their tops still often freeze slightly. Therefore, the shoots are best to bend down. Whole. And pinning them to the ground is most convenient with metal studs.

But here another problem arises – in some varieties the stems are very thick. Any attempt to lay them horizontally ends tragically: the stem breaks. Therefore, two rules must be remembered here: it is necessary to bend down the shoots before the onset of frost (in cold weather they are more brittle) and not immediately, but gradually: at first a little, after a week a little more and so gradually until they lie on the ground. Should be done by the end of October.

If the shoots are very resilient, striving to return to a vertical position, despite the metal studs, just press them to the ground with a board and put a couple of bricks on top. Maybe the method looks cruel, but believe me, roses are not afraid. Usually after a week they resign themselves to their fate and finally take a horizontal position. Then the bricks and the board can be removed and only the studs left.

If you come across particularly stubborn shoots, do not torment them – just cut them to the desired height (about 40 cm).

By the way, many summer residents prune faded flowers to preserve the decorativeness of the bush. And besides, they fear that the fruit that has set will take a lot of strength from the plant. In fact, the fruits just need to be left – they contribute to the maturation of the wood.

How to properly cover roses for the winter

An air-dry shelter is considered to be the best option (3). This is when a frame is placed over the roses, and some kind of waterproof material is placed on top of it: roofing felt, film, building insulation. In general, this is true, but the method has a lot of shortcomings.

First, these materials do not allow air to pass through. In the spring, moisture condenses on them, the temperature rises, and the roses will inevitably soak. It is important to remove such a shelter in time – as early as possible in the spring, but not always summer residents can get to the site in time.

Secondly, with such a shelter there is a lot of fuss in the fall. It often rains at this time of the year, and for this type of protection, it is important that the inside is dry. Therefore, it is necessary to cover the roses early, but at the same time the ends of the shelter must be open – for ventilation. Close them with the onset of stable light frosts. All this is extra work.

Thirdly, such shelters are easy to make if the roses are planted in rows. And if they are randomly scattered around the site, if there are a lot of them, then problems arise.

Therefore, modern rose growers are increasingly abandoning such piles. Practice has shown that it is enough to simply throw a non-woven material over the plants bent to the ground – without any frame.

There are also many other ways, but 2 options have proven themselves best.

Lutrasil. It is good because roses will not freeze under it, but most importantly, they will not soak during thaws. So you can safely cover the bushes at the end of October.

First, one layer is enough. And in early November, roses need to be covered with another 1 – 2 layers of lutrasil (depending on density).

Many amateur flower growers put metal arcs on top of the bushes and lustrasil is already thrown on them. But this is troublesome, and the arcs must be found somewhere. Therefore, you can safely lay lutrasil directly on top of the bushes, pressing the edges with something heavy, such as bricks.

Sawdust. This is a lazy way – it is very simple. All that is needed is to pour a bunch of sawdust 15–20 cm high into the center of the shoots bent to the ground. If the winter is snowy, the bush will overwinter completely. If frost hits the bare ground, the bent shoots may suffer, but they will not freeze at the base of the bush – new stems will grow from the buds in the spring.

In the spring, sawdust should be removed as early as possible, otherwise the shoots under them may dry up.