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Roses are considered capricious southern flowers, but they are grown even beyond the Arctic Circle. They grow well in many areas with very severe winter frosts, you just need to choose the right varieties. And a reasonably organized shelter of roses for the winter in the Urals will help you live comfortably even in such a difficult climate. In summer, flowers feel great, but you need to think about how to prepare roses for winter in advance.
When to hide
It is impossible to give an exact date when to cover roses for the winter in the Urals, it depends on the weather, the type and variety of the plant. Usually this happens after stable frosts are established, a short-term drop in temperature to -5 degrees not only does no harm, but contributes to its recovery, this is nothing more than hardening. The preparation of roses for winter begins in August, when watering is gradually made less frequent, nitrogen is excluded from top dressing, and plants are strengthened with potassium and phosphorus. The flowers that bloom in August are not pruned, the ripening of the fruits completes the period of activity and adjusts the plants to prepare for the dormant period. In September, cut off the lower leaves, unripe shoots, which, most likely, will not survive the winter. Bushes with shoots exposed at the base are first treated with iron sulphate or a mixture of copper sulphate and soda (this mixture is called Burgundy liquid), then they are sprinkled with earth and sand to a height of 15 cm, and they are also covered with leaf humus from above. This is done to protect the roots from excess autumn moisture, you can even cover the bushes with a film during the rain.
With the onset of frost, while the thermometer still does not drop below -5 degrees, and even then at night, roses are freed from foliage, buds and flowers, plant residues are raked out of the bushes, and the bushes themselves, the ground around them and dry leaves covering the bases of the shoots, sprayed with Bordeaux or Burgundy liquid to prevent diseases. After that, prepare a shelter.
Experts say that preparation for wintering begins when you buy a seedling and look for a place for it on your site. Those roses that grow best in the Urals are those that were grafted on wild roses, and not own-rooted ones, and it is advisable to buy them at the nearest nursery, then you can be sure that the varieties are zoned, which means that the local climate will not be a test for them.
Roses should be planted on a small hill, they should be protected from the wind from the north and west by a wall of a building, a fence or a hedge, but on the south side it is better to open them to the sun. Proper care will make roses strong, and it will be easier for strong and healthy plants to overwinter.
Video “Pruning for the winter”
From the video you will learn how to properly cut the bushes before wintering.
What flowers need pruning
It is not necessary to prune roses strongly for the winter. In all types of roses, without exception, it is necessary to cut out damaged and unripe shoots, cut leaves and flowers before entering the winter period, and the shoots are shortened only slightly. So, hybrid tea roses and floribunda are shortened by 10 to 20 centimeters so that they fit in a shelter. 
The climbing ones are removed from the supports, the shoots are shortened by no more than a third, they also approximately act with ground covers, which have long flexible stems and even with high scrubs. There are many opinions about how to prune roses in autumn, but severe pruning can have a bad effect on flowering and the whole appearance of the bush the next year. Therefore, it is better to return to pruning in the spring, then it will already be necessary to look at how the shoots endured the Ural frost, and, if necessary, cut even a growing bush.
How to bend down
In order to hide rose bushes under cover, most often the shoots have to be bent to the ground.
Preparing climbing roses for winter consists in folding and stacking shoots after pruning. Long flexible branches of ground cover roses are also folded and laid on spruce branches, foam plastic, boards or other substrate.
But those shoots that grow long, but do not bend, as, for example, with scrubs, must be bent as close to the ground as possible if it is impossible to lay on it. This is a very difficult job.
If you try to immediately tilt a prepared (cut and treated against rot and fungus) bush with tall, straight-growing shoots to the ground, this may result in broken shoots. Therefore, many bushes begin to tilt even in the middle of the August flowering. A tall, thick, perhaps already lignified shoot must first be tilted and secured in the achieved position. Then a week later, tilt it again, fix it again. This is the only way to gradually bring all the shoots closer to the ground without loss. It is easier to do this after rain, in the late afternoon.
You can not bend the shoots in different directions, the correct folding is when the tip approaches the grafting point. This does not always work out, but you need to try to tilt the shoots to one side, so that they fit completely under the shelter, everything that does not fit is usually cut off.
How to cover
Rolled up or at least inclined shoots are laid on a substrate, covered with dry leaves on top. If in the south this was enough, or it would be worth putting spruce branches on top, then in the Urals roses should arrange an air-dry shelter. Above the hilled bushes with folded shoots, you need to install a frame. Its role can be played by wooden or plywood boxes, shields installed on all sides of a bush (or rose garden), or wire arches. Kraft paper, roofing felt, and then plastic wrap are laid on top of them. But it would be better to use lutrasil, spunbond or other similar material that is pressed down with stones or boards around the perimeter so that the wind cannot move it.
A high-quality shelter should protect the wintering flower from cold wind, snow and rain, it must withstand the heavy weight of possible snow and not collapse under its weight. In addition to all this, it should exclude the possibility of overheating of the plant during short thaws, and this can be achieved only by maintaining the possibility of ventilation. All these conditions are met by an air-dry shelter, which will rise above the bush, leaving a sufficient layer of air.
Lutrasil does not let water in, but during the cold autumn rains it would be good to build such a shelter, but not close it tightly, leaving it open at the ends, and throw a film on top.
When the rains are over, the film can be removed. And it will be possible to close tightly all sides with the advent of constant frost. So the plants will be protected from cold and excess moisture, but they will receive a sufficient amount of fresh air.
Video “Shelter of roses”
From the video you will learn how to properly cover the bushes for the winter.
