Preparing roses for the winter season in the fall can be tedious work, so it’s no surprise that it sometimes becomes a matter of procrastination, even for seasoned gardeners.
After investing so much time and energy into growing roses in the spring and summer (fertilizing, topping, training), putting our roses to bed is absolutely bittersweet.
How beautifully these roses stand out against the rusty fall foliage!The consolation (or motivation) is that the maintenance of autumn roses in the garden next year will be increased tenfold. Here are some essential fall rose tasks to help you enjoy beautiful blooms next year.
1. Stop fertilizing your roses.
If you have fertilized your roses, now is the time to stop. As tempting as it is to keep fertilizing roses as long as we see flowers on the plant, fertilizing after late summer through early fall is not a good idea.
As a general rule, you should stop fertilizing at least eight weeks before the first expected frost.
Fertilizing later in the fall promotes new growth that will be very fragile when temperatures drop. Let the plant rest and prepare for winter.
At the end of August or beginning of September, stop fertilizing your roses.2. Stop ruining your roses.
It sounds contradictory, I know. Especially since pruning is one of the most important gardening jobs for roses throughout the summer. But remember that the purpose of dead pruning is to encourage plants to produce more flowers to extend the blooming season.
You can remove dead shoots, but roses are best left to form rose hips in early fall. From October you want to do the opposite: your goal should be to encourage the roses to enter their dormant period. Cutting a few rose blooms for arrangements should be fine, but try to have the majority of your rose blooms form rose hips (the fruit of the rose) to signal the plant that it’s the end of the season. of growth. That being said, if there are any buds that haven’t opened, you can remove them.
3. Lightly prune dead, diseased and damaged canes.
If you want heavy pruning, you’ll have to wait until spring (note, however, that not all roses benefit from heavy pruning). Indeed, severe pruning (cutting the plant all the way to the base) is likely to encourage new growth, which is the last thing you want before temperatures drop.
That brown stick on my rose is a sure sign that the top of the stem is dead. But you should still lightly prune your roses in the fall to remove dead, diseased and damaged stems.
Start by removing any canes that have broken during the season. Next, cut off any canes that show signs of black spots or mold. This is a must, as black spot overwinters on sticks or leaf debris and will return with greater force next year.
Finally, remove the sticks that appear brown and wrinkled. These stems have dried up and will no longer produce new shoots.
I only prune lightly in the fall, removing the dead parts of the rosebush.The best method for pruning roses, whether in fall or spring, is to make clean cuts at 45 degrees (diagonally across the cane) with sharp pruners. The sharper the cut, the better.
4. Cut a third of the remaining sticks.
Roses begin to shed their leaves from the bottom up, so in November you will have very heavy branches that act like wind sails, causing the plant to sway in the wind. This could cause the plant to succumb to the elements and break. In some areas, winter storms can be strong enough to uproot young roses.
Prune heavier roses to protect them from high winds and sleet.If you can, go outside on a windy day and watch the rose move. Then remove the piece that is swaying heavily in the wind. This often results in a so-called “one-third pruning” because you prune the top third of the stems.
When you see new shoots swell, cut the cane about an inch above an outward-facing shoot. With most roses, the buds will be more visible in the spring than in the fall, so the advice not to over-prune applies.
5. Clean up and remove diseased foliage.
Again, our goal here is to sanitize the roses as much as possible to avoid fungal reinfestation next year.
Remove all leaf litter that has accumulated around the base of your roses and dispose of it with your household trash. As tempting as it may be, don’t add diseased leaves to your compost pile, as very few backyard compost piles get hot enough to kill fungal spores.
Despite a very dry summer, some of my roses still had black spots. 6. Protect the roots and crown of roses.
Most grandiflora, floribunda and tea hybrids need protection during the winter months. This advice also applies if your winters are not very cold.
What damages roses and other woody perennials during the winter months is actually the temperature swing between freezing temperatures and temperatures above freezing, rather than prolonged periods of cold weather. .
If you can, let your roses spend a few nights in freezing temperatures to make sure they get some rest before bringing them in for the winter. If you apply the protective cover too soon, while the floor is still warm, you risk leaving lingering heat in the floor. This, in turn, encourages your rose bush to continue growing. Again, this is not something you want to encourage for the winter.
You can start the rose mounds by adding a generous layer of compost. Start by adding a layer of nutritious compost followed by a layer of mulch at the base of your roses. This acts as insulation, traps moisture and forms a barrier to prevent mold spores from rising.
Then continue hilling (also called ridging) around the crown by adding layers of loose, airy mulch, such as dead leaves, straw, bark, cones or pine needles. However, avoid taking soil around the base of the plant to build your mound.
A layer of conifers is the perfect insulation against temperature fluctuations.The general recommended height for the mound is around 10 inches (25 cm), plus or minus a few inches depending on the age of the plant (younger ones need more protection), the variety of rose you are growing and its height .cold are the winters.
You can use burlap sacks, tomato cages, or wire mesh to contain the mound. You can also buy “winter rose collars” that wrap around the mound to keep it from falling in the rain.
You can finish by placing a burlap or burlap sack over the mound.Remember that you will need to remove this mound in early spring, so while you want it to be a sturdy structure, don’t make it too difficult for yourself. As the weather warms, gradually remove the accumulated mulch to protect any new growth that has formed under the protective layer.
7. Continue to water your roses as needed.
It depends on the amount of precipitation you experience during the fall. But if you find that the rain isn’t helping, it’s usually a good idea to keep watering your roses. This is especially important if you have a hot September or if there are strong winds which tend to dry out the plants.
Plants can be weakened by drought even in winter, so it’s important to do whatever is necessary to minimize stress on your roses.
Keep watering your roses in the fall if there isn’t enough rain. Can I transplant my roses in the fall?
If it’s possible. When the roses are dormant (usually at the end of October), you can pull them out and transplant them to a more suitable location. Prune them as described above before transplanting to make moving easier.
If you replanted them, be sure to water them well and stack them as described above. Newly transplanted rose roots are even more sensitive to temperature changes, so store them for the winter.
Fall is the perfect time to move your roses.As with all other plants, the most important tip for overwintering roses comes before you even put the rose in the ground. As attractive as some rose varieties may be when browsing through fall catalogs or at the garden center, if they aren’t suitable for your climate and hardiness zone, they aren’t worth it.